Naruto - Life of a Dragoon Ninja
by MercenaryGrax
Summary: After one particularly harsh beating at the age of 10, Naruto awakens to find himself lost in a cave. Unknown to Naruto and the villagers that trapped him there, this was the resting place of one Rose, Dragoon of Darkness. What will happen once these two meet? One thing's for sure: the ninja world will never be the same again. Challenge presented by Dragon and Sword Master.
1. Challenge Guidelines

**Dragon and Sword Master's Challenge Guidelines**

After his 10th birthday, Naruto wakes up to find himself in a cave, with the entrance shut in front of him. Naked, cold and blood on his body, the only thing he finds on his person is a note saying that Konoha no longer wanted their demon and cast you out. Little do they know that this cavern holds several secrets of the past...One being the entombed body of the last Wingly female. (It could also be the sleeping form of Rose, the human form of the Black Death)

-Naruto can either have the Fire Dragoon Stone or the Jade Dragoon stone. Anyone else can have the other stones, it just have to makes sense. (For example, an Iwa shinobi cannot have the Violet Dragoon Stone. HOWEVER Meru/Rose must have their respective Dragoon stone)  
-It can be a harem if you want, but it does have to have Meru/Rose in it.  
-Please no Sakura or Kakashi bashing  
-Rose/Meru must tell Naruto about their history and about the Black Death/Wingly race.

I have chosen to use Rose in this fic instead of Meru. The option was given, and I felt that Rose would fit better for what I had planned. As you may notice in the first chapter, I changed just a few small details regarding the point where Naruto awakens. Hopefully this works out and is alright with DASM, but if not…well…crap! Lol. Regardless, seeing as a great many details were left open for the challenge-taker to decide, I have put my own spin on the story and I hope you all are looking forward to reading and seeing how everything turns out. Enjoy this challenge fic and my second Naruto/Legend of Dragoon crossover fic!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Awakening**

Loud screams could be heard throughout the village of Konohagakure. It was nighttime and these screams were keeping people awake. However, not a person moved from their home to investigate. After all, they knew who it was that was screaming for their life to be spared.

Yes, young Naruto Uzumaki was screaming at the mob chasing him to spare his life. He was terrified and had no idea what he had even done to deserve the villagers' wrath. All he knew was that this was his tenth birthday and it was almost over. Looking back on things now, he figured he should have just remained in his apartment and barricaded the door and windows and waited everything out. Unfortunately, he hadn't thought things would turn out like this.

_**Flashback – Half an hour earlier**_

_Young Naruto had just finished celebrating his birthday with the Sandaime Hokage at Ichiraku Ramen. Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku had gladly fed Naruto, giving him three free bowls of his favorite ramen. Hiruzen Sarutobi had paid for the rest with a bright smile on his face. Yes, the Sandaime cared deeply for the child, but he also worried greatly for him. While the elderly Sarutobi didn't know the full extent of what the villagers had done to him in the past, he knew that their hatred for the boy ran deep, even if it was entirely unjustified._

_ Hiruzen Sarutobi had wanted to walk young Naruto home, fearing for the boy's safety, but he had been informed of an emergency of some sort that needed taking care of. So, reluctantly, the Sandaime left Naruto with the Ichiraku's and returned to his office to sort things out._

_ A short time later, Naruto left Ichiraku's and made his way towards home. Sadly, just five minutes away from his apartment, an incredibly drunk man spotted Naruto and squinted his eyes, trying to figure out if he was really seeing the boy he so despised or not. Upon realizing that it was _indeed_ Naruto Uzumaki, he walked up on the boy and slugged him as hard as he could in the face, knocking him to the ground with a hard thud._

_ "You little shit! It's all your fault she's gone! If only you didn't exist, she'd still be here! You…you…" Hiccupping, the man had to take a moment to focus his thoughts again. "Yeah…now I remember what I wanted to do." Drawing a knife, this simple villager donned a sinister grin. "I decided that I was going to kill you tonight if I saw you. I hope you've prepared yourself to meet your maker, because when I'm done with you, you won't be coming back!"_

_**Present time**_

As Naruto ran from the drunken man, others joined in the chase. They didn't need a reason. Naruto hadn't actually done anything to any of them. His only crime was _existing_ apparently. If the villagers didn't have a weapon, they either picked one up along the way, collected stones and threw those at him, borrowed from others, or used their fists.

Every time they caught him, Naruto managed to escape somehow before too much damage was done, but that didn't mean he was unharmed. His left arm was hanging limp at his side, the damage to his left shoulder causing it to become inoperable. The many cuts and bruising points on his right leg had him limping along slower than he would have liked to be moving. Naruto's left eye was swollen shut after receiving numerous punches to his face. In fact, his entire body was damaged and he was moving on pure adrenaline, hoping desperately that either somebody would help him or he would manage to escape with his life intact…preferably both.

Sadly, it was not to be as he soon collapsed in the middle of a darkened alley, his leg finally giving out on him. Struggle as he might to make it move, nothing could be done. The mob of angry villagers and shinobi soon caught up and began to beat him once again. When it was finally over and done with, the young blonde was barely breathing and looked as if he was on the brink of death. As the majority of the group began to cheer about finally being rid of the 'Demon Brat', a few of the more intelligent shinobi and villagers decided that they needed a place to dump the body. After all, it wouldn't do to have the Hokage hunting for the killer of someone he was that close to.

Whispering amongst themselves, these villagers decided that they would search for someplace to hide Naruto's body outside the village. There was too big a risk that his body would be found far too quickly inside the village. So, knowing this, two of them grabbed Naruto by either of his arms while the other three decided they would keep a lookout and search for someplace to hide the body. The two that had taken Naruto by his arms didn't even bother carrying him. Their hatred for the boy ran so deep that they instead just dragged him through the streets on their way out of Konoha. They continued to do so the entirety of their search.

Some amount of time later, the group of five finally found a place to hide the body. It was such an out-of-the-way location that they knew nobody would ever find Naruto's body here. In fact, it was someplace they didn't even know existed in this world. The location? An odd cave that led deep underground about fifty minutes outside of Konohagakure. They each had an eerie feeling about this cave, so they didn't proceed too far inwards. Instead, they took him just outside of view from the entrance and dropped him unceremoniously onto the floor. "Tch. Making us drag this little shit." One of the men complained right before the two that had dragged him began to kick Naruto hard over and over again. This lasted until they were out of breath.

When this last beating was finally over and done with, the group of five left the cave and glared at the entrance. The three shinobi in the group turned to each other and nodded. "We need to seal the entrance just in case."

One of the two normal villagers frowned at this and shook his head. "In case of what? The brat's dead, isn't he?"

Another of the shinobi shook his head in response. "Maybe, maybe not. We've given the little shit pretty severe beatings before and we see him walking around the next day in perfect health. Even if he's finally fucking dead, do you really want somebody finding the body and reporting it to Hokage-sama? If he finds out who killed the little shit, we're all in deep shit and you know it." Seeing them nod in response, this same shinobi turned to another and nodded his head. "Do it. Seal the entrance with your Doton (Earth Release) jutsu and let's be done with it."

The final of the three shinobi in the group nodded and flashed through a series of hand seals before slamming his hands palms out onto the ground. In an instant, the entrance to the cave was sealed with a wall of earth. It looked unnatural and didn't fit with the surroundings, but it served its purpose well: Naruto Uzumaki's body was trapped inside and nobody would ever find him like this. Once it was over, they left and returned to the village where they celebrated the fact that they were _finally_ rid of the beast.

_**Six hours later**_

Naruto's eyelids shot open and he took in a few heavy breaths as he sat up slowly. His injured arm still hadn't fully recovered, so he didn't bother trying to move it. Instead, he used his good arm to push himself up off the ground. Groaning as he put pressure on his injured leg, Naruto reached up and rubbed his head. "Ugh. At least I can stand. Why do they always, _always_ do these things?!"

Glancing around, the blonde found that it was incredibly dark. Blinking a few times as his eyes began to adjust, he tilted his head to the side. "Where am I? Last I remember, I was in the street." Looking ahead of him, Naruto saw that wherever he was, he was apparently in a kind of dead-end. So, turning around, the boy decided he had only one way to go: further into the cave, though he didn't even know he was in one at this point in time.

As Naruto proceeded further into the cave, it started to look less like a cave and more like a tomb of sorts. The rock wall of the cave changed as he proceeded further in. While in the beginning it had the usual rock wall you'd expect to see when venturing into a cave, it began to look more like a gray brick wall with a smooth stone ceiling up above. Further in and there were intricately carved pillars that lined the rather long hall he now traversed. Even stranger was the fact that this hallway was lit by candles that hung on the walls. It wasn't very bright, but at least he could actually see without having to strain his eyes.

Upon finally reaching the end of the hall, Naruto found a pure black door lined with symbols barring his path. "What the heck is this place? And what the hell is with these symbols?" Reaching up his right hand, the young blonde hesitantly pressed his hand upon the door. Screaming out when the symbols suddenly lit up eight different colors: red, blue, yellow, dark blue, green, brown, violet, and gray, Naruto was forced to cover his eyes with his working arm and wait things out.

When the light finally died down, Naruto lowered his arm and blinked when he saw the door was now open. "What the hell was that?" Deciding not to even think about it, the young Uzumaki child stepped into the room beyond the door and glanced around. The room was large and circular in shape. Unfortunately for Naruto, there was no exit. Sighing heavily, the youngling's shoulders slumped and he decided that it was best to just look around the room for a while.

The first thing Naruto noticed was the strange stone slab located across from him towards the back wall. Frowning as he stepped towards it, Naruto soon covered his eyes once more as the room lit up with a bright light. Looking around in shock, he was unable to find any form of light source. "Okay, yeah. That's not spooky at all." Starting to shake as the room seemed to be growing cold, Naruto stepped closer and soon spotted a woman lying on the stone slab.

Eyes widening, the boy rushed over and reached out with both arms, his left arm having finally finished healing. Shaking her gently, Naruto felt she was cold to the touch and frowned. "Is she dead? She's so cold…" Saddened at this thought, Naruto Uzumaki wished the woman well before turning to look around some more.

What he noticed next were the eight indentations in the wall going in a semi-circle around the room, four on either side of the stone slab. Next to each indentation, a weapon hung on the wall. Within each of these indentations rested small orbs, each a different color. Only one truly stood out to young Naruto however. In fact, if he had to put it into words, it felt almost as if this orb was calling out to him.

Confused by this, the young boy approached the orb and slowly reached out to it. Taking it into his hand, the orb began to glow green and soon became too bright for the boy to even see. When he opened his eyes, Naruto looked back at the orb, but soon recognized something was different.

Looking himself over curiously, Naruto Uzumaki found himself to be clad in beautiful green, _winged_ armor. Grinning broadly, he soon began to laugh. "This feels AWESOME!" Sadly, he couldn't quite celebrate as he felt a presence behind him.

Zipping forward, Naruto grabbed the lance off the wall, spun around and pointed it at the person that had snuck up on him without the boy noticing. What he saw had Naruto lowering his new weapon and blinking in confusion. "You…weren't you dead? What the heck's going on here?!"

Standing before him now was the very woman that had been resting on the stone slab just moments before. She was beautiful, with long black hair and lovely dark blue eyes that just seemed to draw him in. Without even thinking, he just blurted it out. "Wow. Now that I look closer, you're really beautiful."

Raising an eyebrow, the woman folded her arms across her chest and looked the boy up and down slowly. "This is the first time I've seen a Dragoon Spirit choose one as young as you." Sighing to herself, the raven-haired woman approached the Dark Dragoon Spirit and took it into her hand. Slipping it away, she quietly took hold of her weapon and strapped that to her side before turning back to the boy. "I am Rose. What is your name young one?"

Naruto tilted his head ever so slightly as he looked the woman over. Before he could respond, the armor disappeared and he was now back to normal. Blinking a few times at that, the young boy put that oddity out of his mind for now and returned his attention to his current company. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, though a lot of the villagers like to refer to me as 'Demon Brat'." Sighing at that, Naruto walked over to the stone slab and sat himself down. "It's nice to meet you Rose-chan. Why were you sleeping here?"

Rose smiled softly at the child before she went around collecting the other Dragoon Spirits and the weapons that rested next to them. "I was resting. Peacefully I might add. I didn't think I was meant to awaken again, and yet here I am." As she finished collecting the equipment and the strange orbs, Rose moved to Naruto's side and sat next to him. "If the Jade Dragoon Spirit has chosen you, then something must be amiss in this world. I wonder how long it's been since my journey with Dart and the others ended."

As the woman, Rose, seemed to lose herself to her thoughts, Naruto watched her closely. Just as he had stated before, she really was very beautiful. Seeing that she seemed to be almost saddened by whatever she was reminiscing about, the young blonde slowly reached out and squeezed her hand in his. When she looked at him curiously, Naruto smiled up at her and spoke. "You seemed kind of sad Rose-chan. I don't know what happened in your past, but it looks like you need a friend. I'm not sure if you'd really like to have me as a friend or not, but if you'd like, I'll gladly be your friend. I know I could use a friend too." Chuckling quietly to himself, Naruto rubbed the back of his head and turned his gaze downward to the floor as his smile took on a sadder appearance.

Rose frowned at this and moved off of the slab, moving to kneel in front of Naruto so she could look him in the eyes. "Boy…Naruto…why don't you tell me about what led to you being here? I think I deserve to know what brought you here to my tomb."

Naruto shivered at the memory of what happened and nodded slowly. "O-Okay Rose-chan. I'll t-tell you…" And with that, the young boy began to recount his tale to the woman before him.

_**A short time later**_

Rose was astonished. Sitting back upon the slab, her face contorting with a mixture of rage and pure shock at what she had just heard, the woman raised a hand to her face and shook her head. "Unbelievable. Who could do such a thing to such a young child? And for what reason? It's just inexcusable."

Naruto chuckled dryly at this and shook his head as he ran his fingers up and down the lance he had yet to relinquish to the woman. "Heck if I know Rose-chan. I can't figure it out. Trust me, I've tried and tried, but nobody will tell me anything. I've asked Jiji before, but he said that he couldn't tell me anything yet." Sighing, the blonde looked up at the ceiling and, after a minute, closed his eyes and laid back. "Sometimes I really wish I could just die."

Rose sighed at that and patted Naruto on the head. "Don't say that. You have a purpose now." Seeing his disbelieving, yet inquisitive look, the Darkness Dragoon pointed at the Dragoon Spirit he held. "You are a Dragoon now, one who commands Dragons. You have been chosen to do great things and I won't have you saying such things." Rising to her feet once more, Rose pointed towards the only way out of the room: through the door he had entered from. "Now let's get out of here. I want to see this village of yours and get some answers. But more than that, I need to see this world and figure out what's happening that the Dragoons would be needed once again."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm all for getting out of this place Rose-chan, but unfortunately there's no way out. I already looked up there and it was blocked off."

The raven-haired beauty sighed and shook her head. "They must have tried to seal you in here after disposing of you. Don't worry about it and just follow me. I can get us out of this tomb." Hoisting the pack of weapons over her shoulder and strapping the bag of Dragoon Spirits to her belt, Rose began her way towards the entrance to her tomb with Naruto hot on her heels.

When they finally reached the entrance, Rose frowned and shook her head. "Whoever these people were, they really didn't want you getting out." Walking forward, Rose suddenly transformed into her Dragoon armor and raised her right hand. "Stand back Naruto."

Doing as he was told, Naruto moved back and watched as Rose began focusing on whatever it was she was doing. When magic began swirling in front of her, Naruto's face lit up and he quickly became excited. However, rather than shout out, the blonde kept quiet so as not to disturb her. Soon, she unleashed her magic and the entrance to the cave exploded outward, debris flying everywhere.

Turning back to her new companion, Rose extended her hand to Naruto. "Come, let us return to your village and see what we can do about fixing your problem. Then we can try to understand why I have awakened." As soon as Naruto took her hand, Rose instructed him to transform again.

Blinking a few times in confusion, Naruto focused on the Dragoon Spirit and, after some moments of concentration, managed to transform once more. It was at this point that Rose took off with Naruto into the skies, much to his surprise. The sun was shining bright in the sky now and it was obvious that it was about midday judging based on its position in the sky. From their position high up in the sky, it didn't take long to spot the village of Konohagakure a short distance away. Pointing it out, Naruto explained to Rose that that was his home and told her they should go to the Hokage Tower to speak with his Jiji. Agreeing instantly, Rose took off through the skies with Naruto alongside her.

_**Ten minutes later – Hokage Tower**_

Rose landed alongside Naruto just outside the Hokage's office. Returning to normal, the two of them approached the windows and Naruto proceeded to pound on the window until Hiruzen Sarutobi turned around and let the two of them inside.

Quickly activating the silencing seal to keep those outside the office from hearing their conversation, the Sandaime hurried to Naruto and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Naruto-kun! Nobody knew where you were. I thought something terrible had happened to you!"

At this point, Rose practically snarled as she approached the Hokage and gripped him by the collar of his shirt. "Something terrible _did_ happen you old fool. From what Naruto has told me, a mob of about fifty or so people attacked him and left him for dead in my tomb. You've got some explaining to do."

Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly threw up his hands and signaled for his hidden ANBU to remain where they were. Staring into the woman's eyes, the Sandaime nodded slowly before gently prying her hands off of him. "I see. Perhaps you could first explain to me just who you are and what you meant by your statement?"

Rose grumbled and reluctantly began to comply with his request. "Fine. My name is Rose. My tomb is located about a twenty minute walk from here if I had to estimate the distance on foot. Do you need to know the full story? No, you don't. Suffice it to say, I was resting for a long time and was recently awakened when this boy, Naruto Uzumaki, was recognized as the new Jade Dragoon. And before you ask, just know that he has an important duty to fulfill. That's all you need to know."

Seeing that he wasn't going to receive any actual information from the woman, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I suppose it's stupid of me to ask this, but that's really all the information you are willing to share with me at this point in time?" When the raven-haired woman nodded in response, the Sandaime grumbled to himself. "Fine, fine. I suppose I should just tell you what I know. Naruto, you might want to take a seat for this."

As soon as Naruto sat in one of the chairs across from him, Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. He looked as if he had aged significantly in the past few moments and was now struggling to figure out where to begin. Deciding it best to just start at the beginning, the Sandaime lit his pipe, took a few puffs, and began.

"Naruto, on the day you were born, the village was attacked by the Kyuubi no Yoko (Nine-Tailed Demon Fox), as I'm sure you well know. Well, something you may not know is that the Kyuubi could not be killed. Instead, the Yondaime was forced to seal it within a newborn child. Naruto, you were the child chosen. You are a Jinchuriki, one who carries a bijuu (Tailed Beast) inside of him/her." Seeing the look on Naruto's face, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly nodded and closed his eyes as he rested his chin in his hands. "Yes. That is why the villagers refer to you as the 'demon brat' as they so often do."

Sighing heavily once again, the Hokage opened his eyes and stared intently at young Naruto. "On the night of your birth, of the sealing of the Kyuubi, a council meeting was held. The Yondaime had wished for you to be treated as a hero as the one who would keep the Kyuubi at bay. Unfortunately, many of those who took part in the meeting began shouting for your death as soon as they found out that you carried the beast inside of you."

Shaking his head in disappointment at this, the Hokage soon continued on. "As far as they were concerned, you were the Kyuubi itself, now in Human form. If only they could see past their hatred and grief, they would have seen the truth. You were just an innocent newborn baby who had yet to commit any form of crime against anyone."

Looking down at his hands, the elderly Hokage took a shaky breath and shook his head once more. "Your parents would be so disappointed if they could see what has become of the village they so loved."

Naruto decided it was time to speak up. "Umm…Jiji? I…" Clearly, he was so shaken by the news that he was having an incredibly difficult time speaking up. Taking a few shaky breaths, Naruto continued on. "Jiji…who were my parents exactly? Are they even still alive? Did they _want_ me?"

Hiruzen smiled softly at Naruto and moved around his desk to hug young Naruto close. "Of course they wanted you Naruto! You're all the two of them even talked about when your mother was pregnant with you. They were so excited to see you and raise you. But…they both died the night the Kyuubi attacked…the very night your mother gave birth to you."

Moving back slightly, the Sandaime looked carefully into Naruto's eyes and wiped away his slowly-forming tears. "Naruto, this may come as a surprise, but your parents were Kushina Uzumaki and the Yondaime himself: Minato Namikaze. You are their only child, and you are very special. Never doubt in their love for you. Do you understand me?"

Naruto slowly nodded and he could feel a mixture of emotions surging inside of him. Unsure of what he could say, or even how he should feel, the blonde boy just remained quiet and waited to hear whatever else his Jiji would say.

Returning to his chair, the Hokage looked at both Naruto and Rose at this point and smiled softly. "I wish you could have been adopted Naruto-kun, but it seems people worked behind the scenes to make sure that never happened. When you were thrown out of the orphanage, I did the best I could to give you a home where you could feel safe. Even that wasn't enough to help you I'm afraid." Looking down once more, he closed his eyes and breathed another shaky breath. "Everything I tried to do in order to help you, there were always people working behind my back to ensure you suffered for something you didn't do. I just didn't realize things had become this bad."

Rose decided it was time for her to speak up. "In other words, you're an incompetent old man making excuses as to why you haven't done anything to help Naruto. I'm just going to give you fair warning you lazy bastard: I'm going to be staying with Naruto from this point forward. If anyone dares try anything on my watch, you _will_ have deaths on your hands. I won't tolerate anyone trying to harm Naruto, not after what I've heard, and especially not now that he's the new Jade Dragoon."

Smirking at the elderly man before her, Rose found herself thinking of a few things she needed to address. "I plan to train young Naruto in the ways of the Dragoon. But from what I understand, this world now consists of villages and people calling themselves 'ninjas'. What I demand from you is that you make sure Naruto is trained in the way of the ninja and finds his way in this world. It's important that we find out what's going on in the world that would demand my presence once more. If Naruto is made a full-fledged ninja, I understand that he'll be able to venture on missions outside of this village to places near and far. If we're to gather information, Naruto's ninja career is important in doing so." Looking down at Naruto, Rose nodded at him before looking back at the Hokage. "He can search for clues outside of the village while I look for information within the village walls and beyond."

Hiruzen Sarutobi simply watched Rose and Naruto for a while before he finally released a sigh and shook his head. "I must ask that you refrain from killing the citizens of Konoha, no matter how despicable some of them might be." Seeing her narrowed eyes, the Hokage raised a handle and shook his head once more. "Let me finish. I want you to become his guardian. I want you to stay at his side and do as you have said. But should there be any trouble, I am sure you can incapacitate his attackers _without_ killing them. Should you kill any of them, it will be hard to explain away and you'll only end up making things tougher on not only myself, but on young Naruto-kun as well."

Rose's lip twitched at the corner and she scoffed. "Maybe a few deaths and savage beatings of their own would make the assholes think twice about coming after him. Did you ever stop to think about that possibility 'Hokage'?" This conversation was quickly turning sour and the ANBU watching were getting anxious. If things escalated any further, they feared they might have to jump in to deal with this strange woman.

The elderly Sarutobi shook his head and sighed. "Is there no way of talking you out of this decision of yours? Is there no way to talk you down from this path of violence and death you've chosen for my people?"

Rose began to glare at the Hokage and slammed her hands down on his desk. "Absolutely none. They tried to murder a CHILD. Not only that, but he's a chosen one, a Dragoon! Whose responsibility would it have been if Naruto had actually died?!"

Hiruzen's lips turned downwards into a frown and he released a heavy sigh before slumping backwards in his chair. "Damn it. I'll admit, you make a good point. As this village's Hokage, I'll admit that his safety is my responsibility and I've failed in that regard. Fine Rose-san, you win. Just…don't make too much of a mess should anything happen. Can you at least promise me that?"

Rose nodded her head and remained quiet as she waited for what he would say next. The Dark Dragoon could tell that he had more on his mind that he wished to speak about and so chose not to interrupt the old man.

"Rose-san. I ask that you tell me about the Dragoons and about what it is Naruto has become. In order to trust you with his safety and well-being, I need to know all there is to know about the Dragoons, who you are, where you come from…I need to know _everything_. Unless you tell me the truth, I'm afraid I cannot relinquish Naruto-kun into your care."

Rose glared angrily at the old man for a good couple of minutes before she finally released an irritated sigh and nodded her head in the affirmative. "Tell your watchdogs to get lost and then we'll talk. Unless they're out of the room, I'm not saying a damn thing."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in acceptance of the woman's terms. Waving his hand, the Hokage ordered his ANBU to vacate the room. Once they were gone, the Sandaime Hokage nodded to Rose to signify that they were all now gone and would not be returning until he summoned them.

Nodding in turn, Rose sat beside Naruto and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before she began her tale. "I do not know how long it has been, but I'm from a time long, long ago. Humans were being subjugated by a race known as the Winglies. We Humans were nothing but slaves to them, and we were a miserable existence. The Dragoons came into existence to combat the Winglies and win our freedom, win our _lives_ back from them." Shaking her head, Rose looked down at this point and sighed again. "The Dragon Campaign, as it was called, turned out to be a bloody affair. Countless people on both sides were injured and killed. It was terrible, but there wasn't a choice."

Looking into the Hokage's eyes, Rose continued her tale. "The Dragoons are able to command the power of Dragons. Each of the Dragoons commands one of eight elements: Fire, Water, Light, Darkness, Wind, Earth, Thunder, and Non-Elemental. I am the Dragoon of Darkness and I command the Dark Dragon. Naruto, as the Jade Dragoon, now commands the Wind Dragon. When needed, we can summon these Dragons into battle. However, Naruto will need training before he is able to draw out the full power of the Dragoon."

As the two males in the room looked on, listening intently to her story, Rose thought back to the previous Dragoons and sighed as she looked towards the ceiling. "After the end of the Dragon Campaign, I spent my time trying to stop an entity known as the Moon Child from ever growing into its power. If the Moon Child had been allowed to live, it would have meant the end of the world, in essence. Tch, I succeeded in my goal 107 times, but failed when I killed the wrong child when the 108th Moon Child was born. The irony of the situation when I realized that my companion and fellow Dragoon, the Dragoon of Light, turned out to be the 108th Moon Child."

Laughing softly to herself, Rose shook her head and looked over at Naruto. "Tell me Naruto, how old do I look to you?"

Naruto blinked at the odd question before shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know. You don't look that old to me. Maybe 23?"

Rose laughed softly at that before she shook her head and turned her gaze back to Sarutobi. "I'm far, far older than that Naruto. For a little over 11,000 years I remained and took on the role of the Black Monster. I kept the world safe for so very, very long. I experienced so much, including the death of my dear fiancé, Zieg. Fate sure had an evil sense of humor when I finally saw him again."

Shaking her head, Rose turned back to Naruto. "Enough about that though. After all that time, I met those that would become the new Dragoons: Dart, Lavitz, Shana, Haschel, Albert, Meru, Kongol, and Miranda." Seeing the confused expression on Naruto's face, Rose smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, you've been paying attention. That's good Naruto. Very good."

Reaching over, Rose put her hand on Naruto's head and left it there for the time being. "Let me explain. Dart was the new Red-Eyed Dragoon, the Dragoon of Fire. Lavitz became the new Jade Dragoon, Dragoon of Wind. When a Wingly named Lloyd killed Lavitz using a weapon known as the Dragon Buster, his majesty, King Albert, was chosen by the Dragoon Spirit to take his place. They are your predecessors Naruto, and they were great people. Shana was the Dragoon of Light, but she also turned out to be the Moon Child. I suspect that the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit held her dormant powers at bay until they became too strong for it to contain. When it finally became too much, the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit chose Miranda to be its next wielder."

Moving her hand from atop Naruto's head, Rose looked down at her hands and smiled to herself as she remembered more and more of her journey with her friends. "I remained as the Dark Dragoon, as I'm sure you already suspected. Haschel was the new Dragoon of Thunder. Then there was Meru, who became the new Dragoon of Water. We found out later that she was also a member of the Wingly race. As shocking as it was for a member of her race to come into such power, she never used those powers for evil purposes. She remained at our side and was a true force to be reckoned with. Kongol? Kongol was at first our enemy, but he was something special. A member of a race known as the Giganto, Kongol joined us and used his immense strength for the good of the world."

Looking into the Hokage's eyes again at this point, Rose continued. "Then there was the one that possessed the Divine Dragoon Spirit: Lloyd. He wasn't recognized as its true wielder, but he still held onto it for some time. In the end, that Dragoon Spirit recognized Dart and he became the Non-Elemental Dragoon."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding at Rose's explanation while the Sandaime decided to voice a question he had held in since she first explained about the Moon Child. "Rose-san, I have a theory I'd like to run by you real quick." Seeing her nod her head to signify that he should continue, the old man nodded in turn. "Could another Moon Child have awakened? Could that be why the Dragoons are needed once more and why you have been roused from your slumber?"

Rose frowned at this question and shook her head. "That shouldn't be the case. My friends and I stopped Melbu Frahma, the one that planned to use that power to bring destruction upon the world. In fact, Zieg and I gave ourselves to finally destroy that bastard once and for all. How and why I appeared in that tomb and why I am alive again is beyond me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned at this and shook his head. "I can think of no other explanation as to why you would remain in this world then Rose-san. Perhaps there _is_ a Moon Child that we do not know about. Say that it is not Melbu Frahma meant to wield this power, but there is a new purpose for the Moon Child. Could that be possible?"

Rose frowned at this and sat back in her chair, looking as if she was deep in thought. Slowly, the woman nodded her head. "If there is another Moon Child, after all this time, there has to be some reason for it. I can safely guarantee that there is no way Melbu Frahma could return, so there's definitely something fishy going on here. One thing is for sure though: if a Moon Child exists in this world, then everyone is in danger. All I can truly say is that we had best hope that there isn't a Moon Child in this world. We should hope that we Dragoons are needed for something else entirely."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded once she was finished speaking and decided it was time to end the conversation. "Alright Rose-san, I understand the situation now. At least to the best of my ability to do so. I want you two to come with me. I am going to take you two to your new home. Rose-san, can I ask you to live together with Naruto and train him in the ways of the Dragoon as seriously as you can? He is like a grandson to me, and I want to make sure he's ready for anything."

Rose rose with Naruto following soon after and she looked down at him. "I had already planned to do both of those things Lord Hokage. I'll take care of Naruto and make sure he's ready for whatever comes our way. But…" Looking into Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes, Rose smirked ever so slightly. "You must do as I requested and make sure that Naruto is trained hard in the ways of the ninja. Not only would this be a fantastic way to learn what's taking place in the world, but it would provide him with more combat capabilities as well. Do we have a deal?"

The elderly Hokage grinned and nodded his head as he reached out and shook the woman's hand. "Of course Rose-san, I wouldn't have it any other way. Now come." And with that, Hiruzen Sarutobi led the two out of his office and began the trek to the estate Naruto's parents had left for the young man.

_**One month later**_

Naruto and Rose had settled into his parents' home quite nicely by now. It was big and homey, and there was plenty of information to be had by reading through his parents' scrolls. In fact, based on some of what he had read during this past month, it seemed there were some jutsu he could try to learn packed in that vault he had found in his home.

As Rose had promised, she had been training Naruto hard in the ways of the Dragoon. At the end of each day, he was so exhausted that he usually collapsed on one of the couches and rested for a time until he could eat, take a shower, and then get to bed so he could get some sleep for the night. Despite how hard the Darkness Dragoon trained him, she would cook for him each night and tuck him in at night. Rose even watched him at night until he finally managed to get to sleep. Afterwards, she would look through the records in the vault for clues on why she had been awakened. If she wasn't doing that, she would either get some sleep herself or venture out into the village and keep an eye on things to see if she could pick out any clues that way.

So far, they had found nothing. At least the Sandaime Hokage had kept up his end of the bargain. Young Naruto had three senseis, each one focusing on teaching him different things. Kakashi Hatake had been chosen to teach Naruto about ninjutsu and genjutsu, and was even working with him on chakra control exercises. Might Guy had been chosen to train Naruto in the ways of taijutsu and was even working with Naruto in helping form a taijutsu style that would fit well with his Dragoon abilities. Finally, there was Yugao Uzuki. This violet-haired woman was in charge of instructing Naruto in the use of his new weapon: the lance. So far, Naruto had soaked up all they had been teaching him like a sponge. In fact, he showed a remarkable degree of intelligence for one so persecuted and mistreated by the villagers.

Of course, Rose actually found herself threatening to tear Guy's testicles off the very moment he had tried to give Naruto a spandex jumpsuit to match his. Needless to say, he learned _very_ quickly not to tick her off, lest he lose parts that were very important to the eccentric man.

Yugao was someone that Rose actually found herself forming a fast friendship with. While she had yet to truly open up to anyone other than Naruto and the Hokage, the two swordswomen got along well enough and had even shared dinners together. Of course, Rose tended to tune Yugao out whenever she began talking about her darling Hayate. Who would really want to listen to that kind of crap anyways?

However, despite how well things have been in the past month, tonight gave Rose a bad feeling. She felt that something bad was going to happen and she couldn't quite help but be on edge. Finding herself feeling incredibly worried for Naruto after leaving him to train with Guy for the day, Rose was now searching the village of Konohagakure for him. Upon hearing anguished screams coming from a couple of blocks away, the Darkness Dragoon felt a sense of rage building within her. _These fools were warned a month ago not to attack him anymore. Their Hokage gave a public speech telling them there would be consequences! How dare they go against their leader's orders?!_

Rushing off, Rose soon transformed and took off into the sky where she quickly spotted the mob attacking Naruto below. They had clearly waited until his training had finished. After all, he would be exhausted and unable to defend himself very well after the harsh training he had been undergoing ever since she had come into his life last month! Snarling angrily, the Darkness Dragoon swooped down and, in one quick motion, cut one man's head from his body before landing between Naruto and the mob.

As the people watched the dead man's head roll and his body collapse, many screamed and panicked, preparing to run. Others drew weapons and prepared to kill the woman that had dared to get in their way. However, none of them knew just what they had gotten themselves into by attacking Naruto this night. In fact, none would be escaping Rose's wrath. If any got away, they were going to be scarred for life by what they saw this night.

Seeing some villagers trying to run, Rose focused her will and trapped them where they stood with her spell. As they became enclosed in a sort of pocket dimension, she focused harder and unleashed her attack. When the dimension collapsed and the people were freed, the majority of them lay dead upon the ground. Very few had survived her spell, and they would not soon be forgetting what had happened to them this night.

Shocked by what they had just seen take place, a few shinobi in the group quickly went through a set of hand seals and performed a combination jutsu together that utilized Katon (Fire Release) and Futon (Wind Release) jutsu to form a swirling vortex of flame that was sent in Rose's direction. Not feeling at all fazed by the threat the jutsu apparently posed to her, the Dragoon swung her sword and dispersed the jutsu with that simple sword strike.

Glaring at those that dared to try and attack her, Rose decided to unleash her Dragoon Addition and shred these fools where they stood. In fact, they hadn't even had the chance to move, she had moved so fast! By the time she had finished with the two foolish shinobi, their bodies lay in three separate pieces on the ground. Turning to the rest of her enemies, Rose narrowed her eyes and frowned. "You are cowards, attacking a young man after he's exhausted himself. You deserve the death that awaits you this night."

Screams could be heard throughout the village for the rest of the night from all those that had dared to attack young Naruto. At one point throughout the slaughter, Rose had used Astral Drain to restore Naruto's health and destroy a few of her 'opponents'. When she returned to normal, Rose went through a series of Additions, slaughtering villager and shinobi alike until none remained standing.

By the time it was all over, bodies littered the street and alleys where they had tried to corner Naruto. Only three people remained alive, and they were in terrible condition. Looking at the three of them, Rose walked over and knelt down to look them in the eyes. "The only reason you are alive is so you can spread a message. Spread the word that Naruto is not to be attacked _ever_ again. Anyone that dares to try will suffer far, _far_ worse than what you experienced tonight. Have I made myself clear?"

If people had to describe her in this moment, Rose looked very much like the Black Monster she had once been described as. Seeing them nod, Rose rose from where she had kneeled down and turned back to Naruto. "Naruto, let's get you home. Your dear 'Jiji' will deal with this mess. I can guarantee that after tonight, you won't be experiencing anything like this _ever_ again." Seeing him smile up at her, Rose wasn't prepared for what came next. Naruto threw his arms around her and hugged her tight, repeating the words, "Thank you." over and over again before he finally passed out from the exhaustion he still felt. His wounds may have been healed by Astral Drain, but the day had been a long one and he really needed rest.

Smiling down at Naruto, Rose hugged him back and whispered to him that it would be alright. After he had passed out, she lifted Naruto into her arms and made the way back towards the home they shared together. In fact, this was the first night she slept in the same bed with the boy. She wanted to keep him safe and she felt it would be best if he had her close by to watch over him, at least for the night.

_**Two nights later**_

After the attack, the villagers had indeed started to leave Naruto alone. Hiruzen Sarutobi, Rose, and Naruto Uzumaki were still waiting to see if they were truly done attacking him, but they weren't holding their breath. Still, things had started to look up for Naruto at the very least.

Needless to say, the Sandaime Hokage wasn't very pleased with having to clean up such a mess that night, but he understood and couldn't fault Rose for what she had done. He just wished she had been a little 'neater' about it. Still, he figured this was probably the best he could have hoped for from the woman.

This night, Rose once more had a dark feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was going to happen tonight, but she didn't know what. So, waiting together with Naruto in their new home, Rose watched and waited, clearly unnerved by this feeling.

Hearing a noise coming from deep in their home, Rose and Naruto rushed off to see who had dared to invade their home. What they found had the two of them drawing their weapons and narrowing their eyes in anger. "Release that this instant! You are not worthy of holding that in your hands you thief!"

The masked intruder stared down at the small orb clutched in his right hand and shrugged his shoulders. "'He' has requested that I bring one of these to him. Apparently these are items of great power, and if 'he' can harness such power, great things can be accomplished. Good-bye." Turning, the man rushed out of the house with the Dragoon Spirit in hand. He didn't make it very far however before a rapier impaled him in the back.

Sadly, despite ending the life of this thief, more of these masked intruders appeared, snatched the Dragoon Spirit off of the ground where it had fallen after their comrade had been slain, and disappeared in a series of Shunshin no Jutsus (Body Flicker Techniques). Screaming out in frustration, Rose glared around and tried to find where they could have gone. "Damn it! That was his! They took the Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit!"

Naruto stood dumbfounded behind her as he looked blankly at where the Dragoon Spirit had fallen. Unable to speak so much as a word, he retreated into his thoughts. _No. This can't be happening. We haven't found the other Dragoons yet. We need them! Why would somebody steal a Dragoon Spirit from us?!_ Collapsing to his knees, the blonde just shook his head in disbelief and continued to hope and pray that this was just some terrible dream.

**A/N: This is the first chapter of the challenge fic I took on based on Dragon and Sword Master's Naruto/Legend of Dragoon crossover challenge. For guidelines, check the first 'chapter' of this fic so you understand the general rules I am meant to follow. As promised, there will be no Sakura or Kakashi-bashing.**

**As a lot was left open for the challenge-taker to decide, I'm sure you'll notice certain things I've chosen to do. For one, the Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit has been stolen, as you no doubt read at the end of the chapter. That's just complication #1. More hiccups will happen later on in the story, and things will get pretty bad as time goes by. I'll introduce more Dragoons as time passes. The only Dragoon from the video game, The Legend of Dragoon, is Rose. All the others will be picked by me from characters in the Naruto world. Look forward to it, and feel free to guess at who will be the new Dragoons if you'd like. You might get some right, you might not.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I do hope you are looking forward to more. I'll get to work on the second chapter of this challenge fic laterish and hopefully have it up in a day or two. *nods* So keep an eye out, leave some reviews if you'd like, and enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Naruto's Team & the Third Dragoon**

"Damn it, I want to know who those masked men were that stole it! You have to know something Hokage!" Rose shouted at the Sandaime after rushing to his office with Naruto. It was only ten minutes after the theft and she was furious, pointing blame at the Hokage for allowing such insolence.

Hiruzen Sarutobi listened patiently to all of Rose's accusations and took her anger in stride. As she yelled at him, the elderly Hokage looked to Naruto and frowned at what he saw. The young blonde was traumatized. He knew how important these Dragoon Spirits were, and with one being stolen like this, there was no telling if they were _ever_ going to get it back! Hiruzen Sarutobi could tell that Naruto was giving into despair, and couldn't let it go on any longer.

"Naruto-kun, look at me." Seeing his grandson figure look into his face, Hiruzen smiled softly at him. Rose had thankfully gone quiet at this point, so he could focus on what he wanted to say. "We'll get it back. I don't know how long it will take, but we'll get it back. In the meantime, I want you to cheer up and focus on your training. If you want to win the Dragoon Spirit back, you should try to become stronger and stronger."

Seeing the boy nod, the old man looked into Rose's eyes and frowned. "As for the men that stole the Dragoon Spirit, I have the suspicion that they are a member of Danzo's ROOT. The group was supposed to have been disbanded, but it's hard to trust him to do as I say. Danzo has never truly agreed with the way I've done things, and he's not exactly the 'peaceful' type. Based on your description of the assailants, that's my best guess. Unfortunately, nothing can be done without solid proof of his involvement."

Shaking his head at this, the Hokage rested his chin atop his hands and sighed heavily. "If we went accusing him now, there's no telling what could happen. The Dragoon Spirit could be lost to us forever if we aren't _careful_. I will look into this matter and continue to do so no matter how long it takes. If I can get even a small amount of evidence that he's involved in this, _then_ we can do something. In the meantime, I want you to focus on Naruto's training. Continue to search for clues as to what you were revived for Rose, and do what you can to find the new Dragoons. It's more imperative than ever that we find them. It's evident that the Dragoon Spirits are not safe until they are in the hands of their true wielders."

Rose _wanted_ to protest, but she knew the Hokage was right. Sitting in one of the chairs across from the Hokage, she put a hand to her face and shuddered just slightly. "You are right Hokage. You are right." Shaking her head, the beautiful dark blue-eyed woman looked over at Naruto. "Naruto, all we can do now is trust in your 'Jiji' as you call him. This situation is currently out of our control, and we really have nothing to go on at this moment in time. We will continue your training and I will continue searching for clues and the others. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure how long it will take to find our fellow Dragoons." Sighing to herself, Rose leaned back in the chair and looked at the ceiling. "How dare someone steal Zieg's Spirit? This really wasn't supposed to happen."

The Sandaime Hokage nodded and gave Naruto's new guardian an understanding look. "It's the last thing you have to remember him by. I lost my wife ten years ago during the Kyuubi attack. I can understand the feeling of loss, and I truly sympathize with you. Why don't the two of you return home and get some rest? I will post some ANBU around your house to watch over you and the Dragoon Spirits. They will continue to stand guard every day, I promise you that. After all, those Dragoon Spirits are far too important to let this happen again."

Rose looked into the Hokage's eyes and saw that he was serious. Nodding her head in response, she smiled softly at Naruto. "Thank you Hokage. I truly appreciate that. Naruto, let's go home and get some rest. If you're still upset about losing the Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit, we can sleep in the same bed tonight. I do not mind, so long as it doesn't happen too often."

Naruto smiled at her offer and nodded his head slowly. "Thank you Rose-chan. I'll accept your offer. As Jiji said, all we can do is focus on my training and looking for whatever the heck requires us Dragoons to exist in this world."

Rose looked to the Sandaime Hokage and nodded. "Thank you again. Naruto and I will be going now. Please do as you said and post guards at our residence. I do not want this kind of situation to happen ever again." Seeing him nod and smiling at her, the Dark Dragoon took Naruto's hand and left the Hokage's office, deciding that it would be fine to walk back to their home.

_**Four years later**_

For the past four years, despite having entered the ninja academy, Naruto had continued his harsh training with his various senseis. He had made incredible progress, and as such was at the top of his graduating class, easily passing the final exams to become a genin. Unfortunately, this is where the good news ends.

For the past four years, they had been unable to find any information on the missing Dragoon Spirit. Also, despite all of their efforts, Rose and Naruto had yet to find out _any_ information on what their purpose was in this world! Finally, they hadn't found any of the other Dragoons. All-in-all, it was a highly depressing situation, and they couldn't help but start to feel somewhat discouraged as time went by.

However, despite all that, Naruto had grown to become a fine Dragoon and a skilled ninja…well, almost-ninja. Thankfully, the blonde had been allowed to learn the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique), among numerous other jutsu that would help him on his way to becoming a fine shinobi. In fact, there was a very good chance that, without the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Naruto would not have become the top student in his graduating class.

Naruto was fourteen now and was in the same class as numerous other students from important clans and generally smart and/or skilled male and female ninja hopefuls. Some of these students were: Shikamaru Nara, a genius, but he was incredibly lazy. Ino Yamanaka, the daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka and skilled in her family's jutsu. Unfortunately, Ino was practically obsessed with the student known as Sasuke Uchiha, whose clan had been massacred some years ago. He was an arrogant bastard, but he _was_ skilled. Still, he had never bested Naruto in a spar, and was always behind him in everything.

Next was Sakura Haruno, who seemed to be interested in Sasuke as well, though she appeared to have her eyes on the young Uzumaki. It was incredibly weird to him, and he never accepted her advances, but he always tried to be nice to her. At best, she was a friend that he didn't mind having conversations with, but he didn't want anything more than that. There was also Hinata Hyuga, heiress to the Hyuga clan and _incredibly_ timid. She was close friends with Shino Aburame, heir to the Aburame clan. Naruto had often wondered what Shino really looked like underneath his heavy coat and sunglasses. However, he also wondered just what had Hinata feeling so inferior. She clearly lacked confidence and he worried if she would survive as a ninja.

Kiba Inuzuka was the heir to the Inuzuka clan and a bit of a hothead. He was always challenging Naruto and Sasuke, but he always lost, no matter which of the two he sparred against. If he would only use his brain a bit more, he would be a true force to be reckoned with. Finally, there was Choji Akimichi. No matter how many times Naruto saw the Akimichi, he always had some kind of snack on hand and was almost _always_ eating! He was best friends with Shikamaru, and Naruto could oftentimes find the two of them hanging out and talking together. The blonde teenager knew that Choji was a powerhouse, but he wasn't anything all that special yet. Naruto figured that, with time and a little more training, Choji could become a fine ninja.

Glancing around the room he now sat in, Naruto spotted the graduating class and smiled as he wondered who his teammates would be. The blonde's mind also drifted to various other things, including the man known as Iruka, his sensei during his time in the academy. Sure, things had started out rocky and it appeared as if the man truly had it out for poor Naruto, but they became close and were now like brothers. In fact, Iruka oftentimes treated Naruto to Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto's favorite place to eat!

The other things on Naruto's mind revolved around his goals as a ninja. More than anything, the teenage boy knew that he needed to keep an eye out whilst on missions that took him outside of the village. It was important that he look for potential Dragoon candidates, and, perhaps more importantly, _why_ the Dragoons were needed! After all, Rose and Naruto still hadn't a clue as to what led to Rose's awakening, nor why he had been 'reborn', so to speak, as a Dragoon!

Naruto's thoughts were cut short as he heard the classroom door open. Glancing down, the blonde watched as his dear brother figure entered the room. Naruto couldn't help but smirk as he noticed Mizuki wasn't with him. Thinking back to the event of three nights ago, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself.

_**Flashback**_

_Rose and Naruto had heard that Mizuki had managed to make off with the __Fuin no Sho (Scroll of Seals)__. They had quickly transformed and flown off in different directions in their search of the traitor. When Naruto found him some time later, he saw that his second school sensei had hidden himself in the forest outside the village. He appeared to be trying to catch his breath and hide out for a time until it was safe to move once again._

_ Swooping down, Naruto landed quietly behind Mizuki and watched the traitor for a moment. Sadly, it appeared that the jerk had noticed him, and the blonde was quickly forced to dodge a fuma shuriken, as well as numerous other projectile weapons. When Mizuki attempted to flee, Naruto used his superior speed to get in front of him and slammed his lance against the white-haired man's face, knocking him out of the trees and into the ground below._

_ Naruto quickly dropped to the ground and continued his assault, making sure to keep his opponent on guard. Thankfully, Mizuki wasn't really that skilled, and he had ZERO experience fighting a Dragoon, especially not one that had been trained as hard as he had been the past four years. It didn't take long for Naruto to best Mizuki and retrieve the Fuin no Sho._

_ Shortly after Mizuki's defeat at the hands of the teenage Naruto, Iruka, Rose, the Sandaime, and numerous others arrived and thanked Naruto for his service to the village. The Jade Dragoon was just thankful that all of his training over the past years had paid off. In fact, he now felt more than ready for whatever lay in store for him down the road._

_**Present time**_

Naruto had returned his thoughts to the present right as Team 7 was being announced. "…Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, and Sasuke Uchiha. Your sensei is to be Kakashi Hatake. Apparently, you are meant to be a strike team according to these notes. It seems you'll be trained in capturing and detaining enemies, learning how to deal with powerful opponents, and more. Heh, I wish you three the best of luck, especially because you've got Kakashi for a sensei."

The blonde looked to his fellow teammates before staring at the ceiling and smirking. _Kakashi-sensei huh? This should be fun. At least it's somebody I know after all!_

"Team 8 is to be Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka. Your sensei is Kurenai Yuhi. According to the notes given to me, you're to be trained as a tracking team. You'll learn more about what this entails from your sensei, so pay attention to what she says. Understand?" Hearing a chorus of 'Hai sensei!" from the three members of Team 8, Iruka then read off the members of Team 10.

"Team 10 consists of Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and Sakura Haruno. Your sensei is Asuma Sarutobi. Yes, he is Hokage-sama's son, just in case you were planning to ask that question. Apparently, you're to be trained as a support team. However, don't expect Asuma to take it easy on you just because of that. Apparently you're going to be trained pretty seriously to enhance your combat capabilities as well. That is important after all."

With a shrug of his shoulders, Iruka looked around the room. "I wish you all the best of luck, and I'm very thankful to have had the chance to teach all of you. I'm sure you'll make fine shinobi and kunoichi, so do me proud and do your absolute best!"

Soon the senseis began to pick up their teams and left with them, only leaving Teams 7, 8, and 10. What really, _really_ surprised Iruka was the fact that all three senseis arrived together just ten minutes after all the other teams had been retrieved. Staring at Kakashi as if he was seeing things, Naruto's brother figure glanced over at him only to see the boy smirking down at him. _I'm not even going to ask why he's actually on _time_ for a change._

Upon seeing Kakashi, Naruto rose from his seat and walked down to him. Reaching out, Naruto lightly punched Kakashi in the ribs and chuckled. "Good to see you Kakashi-sensei. Sooo, did you pick the three of us yourself, or was this Jiji's doing?"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and eye smiled at his longtime student. "We discussed it, and it was recommended by Hokage-sama. I expected Asuma to get the Ino-Shika-Cho trio that were graduating this year, but he wanted to try something a little different, especially considering your, erm…'unique' situation."

Naruto nodded at this and then glanced over at the other two senseis. They seemed kind of shocked that Kakashi was actually on time, but they hadn't really said anything yet. Looking back up at his sensei, Naruto grinned up at him. "Sooo, did Rose-chan have to threaten you again, or are you still being a 'good boy'?"

The silver-haired jonin shuddered at that and shook his head. "Believe me, I learned my lesson after being late to our first training session. I am _never_ going to be late again. That is one scary woman you have living with you Naruto-kun. I swear, she's only truly nice to _you_."

Chuckling at that, Naruto was about to respond when the others came down and joined them. Teams 8 and 10 soon left, leaving Kakashi standing there with his genin team. Naruto grinned up at Kakashi and nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But we can talk about all that later. I think we're supposed to do something now?"

The silver-haired man shrugged his shoulders and nodded in response. "Yeah. You three, meet me on the roof. Don't keep me waiting." Eye smiling at the three of them, the jonin friend of Naruto soon vanished in a shunshin, leaving the three genin standing there in the classroom.

Shikamaru soon turned to Naruto and frowned at him. "Do you know our jonin sensei, Naruto? Sure seems like you do, based on how friendly the two of you were acting with each other."

Naruto was about to respond when Sasuke shoved past him and began walking down the hallway towards the stairs. "What the heck does it matter if he knows him or not? It's not like it'll count for anything in the long run."

Shikamaru sighed at that and looked to Naruto. "C'mon Naruto, let's just get going. That jerk's not going to wait for us, and we can always talk about this later." Seeing Naruto nod in agreement, the two of them set off after their teammate.

_**Rooftop of the Academy**_

Upon stepping out onto the roof, the three fresh genin sat down across from their jonin sensei. Naruto couldn't help but spot one of the books that Rose had forbidden Kakashi from reading when the jonin tried to slip it away quickly. _Oh, if only Rose-chan were here, you would be in _soooo_ much trouble Kakashi-sensei. You got lucky this time._ Snickering to himself, the blonde began to imagine the things his best friend would do to his new jonin sensei.

Seeing this, Kakashi began to get a cold sweat running down his back. "N-Naruto-kun? I know what you're thinking. Please, I beg of you, DON'T TELL HER!"

While the rest of their team didn't understand just what the hell was going on, Naruto simply broke out into a fit of laughter. This, of course, made poor Kakashi Hatake even more nervous and he began to feel that he may need to get on his hands and knees and _beg_ the boy not to tell her!

After some time, Naruto finally calmed down and wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh Kakashi-sensei, you worry too much. I wouldn't tell her. Well…probably wouldn't tell her. Maybe." This didn't exactly allay the silver-haired jonin's fears, but he figured this was the best he could do. If Naruto did choose to tell Rose about his book, Kakashi would just have to take his punishment like a man…or he'd be forced to run. Probably the latter now that he thought on it.

Seeing the confusion on their teammates' faces, Naruto and Kakashi chuckled nervously, both of them rubbing the backs of their heads and apologizing for wasting their time. Shikamaru couldn't help but sweat drop at this as he noticed the similarities between Naruto and their sensei. _Do they realize just how creepy that is?_

"Alright, we need to get this started. Why don't we start by introducing ourselves? I'll start." Kakashi coughed into his hand and composed himself before he continued. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes are the Icha Icha series, Naruto-kun, and a number of other things. My dislikes are, hmm…how the heck should I put this? Well, I don't get along with that woman Rose. Let's just put it that way. I happen to dislike other things, but you don't need to know about all of that. I have a few hobbies, but they aren't important enough to discuss. My dreams...I'm not really sure if I should tell you." Seeing the looks on his students' faces, Kakashi chuckled and shook his head. "Well, you at least get the gist of what you're supposed to do. Okay Mr. Grumpy, you're up next."

Sasuke grumbled at the nickname before he spoke up. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My likes are training and getting stronger. My dislikes are Naruto, my damned fan girls, and other unimportant things not worth discussing. My hobbies? Tch, that should be obvious. I train. I train every day in order to achieve my ambition. That's right, I don't have any dreams, I have an ambition that I'll make happen. I'll kill the one that took my clan away. After that, I'll restore my clan. Simple as that."

Kakashi shrugged at that and made a simple comment, nothing that really acknowledged what Sasuke said or dismissed it, just something simple. Afterwards, he turned to Shikamaru and eye smiled. "Alright Pineapple, your turn."

Sighing and muttering his usual remark of "Troublesome." Shikamaru began his turn. "My name is Shikamaru Nara." At this point, he yawned and glanced around at his teammates. "Likes are next, huh? Well, I like cloud watching and my friends. I dislike arrogant people and having to work too hard. As I said before, you can count cloud watching as one of my hobbies. There are a few other things I like to do, but…meh. Finally, I guess you can count a dream of mine as becoming head of my clan? I dunno." Shikamaru's teammates all sweat dropped at this, but they decided to just stay quiet about it.

When Kakashi said it was Naruto's turn, the blonde grinned and nodded. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I have a lot of likes! I like Rose-chan a lot, you Kakashi-sensei, Guy-sensei (even though he's still really odd), Yugao-onee-chan, Jiji, the Ichiraku's, ramen, and more! I dislike a lot of the villagers, especially after how they've treated me. I also dislike how long it takes to prepare ramen. I get hungry and want to eat, why do I need to wait?" Laughing to himself, the blonde soon continued. "Hobbies? I guess my big hobby is training. I've been training a lot over the past four years, sooo…yep." With a simple shrug of his shoulders, Naruto decided to finish up. "My dreams are next, right? Welll…that's actually kind of hard. While I'd like to become the Hokage, I also want to stay with Rose-chan and help her with everything. We've got a lot to do, but we don't really know much of anything about what it is we _need_ to do."

As Naruto sighed quietly, the others looked at him with curious looks. However, none of them said anything, deciding to just leave it alone. Kakashi couldn't help but frown behind his mask however. _I wish I knew more about what's been going on with you Naruto-kun. You and Rose-san have only told me so much. I wish you would just let me in and trust in me a bit more._

Rising from where he sat, Kakashi patted himself off and eye smiled at his genin once more. "Your test begins tomorrow morning at 9 AM at the Third Training Ground. Don't be late, and, if you know what's good for you, _don't_ eat breakfast. After all, you'll just throw it up once your test has begun." Smirking beneath his mask at his team, Kakashi figured that Naruto and Shikamaru would likely figure it all out, but he wasn't sure about Sasuke. With a shrug of his shoulders, Kakashi disappeared in a Konoha-Shunshin no Jutsu (Leaf Body Flicker Technique).

Before Sasuke could leave, Naruto gripped his shoulder tight and stared him hard in the eyes. "Eat. Breakfast. Do you understand me?"

"Already trying to disobey your superior dobe? That's typical." Sasuke responded, scorn in his voice as he glared hard at Naruto.

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. "This is our first test Sasuke. Just eat breakfast so you're ready for whatever he has in store for us tomorrow. It won't be our fault if you fail to use your damn head."

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief at his teammates. "You two are idiots. Go ahead and do whatever you want, I'm following orders." And with that, he forced Naruto's hand off of his shoulder and walked off, leaving the two, clearly _smarter_ genin on the roof.

Turning to Shikamaru, Naruto shrugged his shoulders and let out a frustrated sigh. "And already we're failing in the teamwork aspect. You and I should be fine in that regard, but unless we can make the teme cooperate with us, the team's going to be in trouble."

Shikamaru nodded at that and glanced over at the door Sasuke had disappeared through. "It's to be expected though. Sasuke's always been this arrogant jerk for as long as we've known him. Whether we like it or not, he's going to continue to think of us as inferior to him. After all, who could be better than the 'great Uchiha'?" Shaking his head at that, the Nara boy looked into his friend's eyes. "Whatever the test is tomorrow, you and I are going to have to pick up the slack and, hopefully, set that idiot straight. Get plenty of rest tonight Naruto-san, and eat a healthy breakfast tomorrow morning. This is so damn troublesome."

Naruto chuckled at that and folded his hands behind his head. "Yeah, you're tellin' me. You make sure to rest well and eat well too Shikamaru-san. I'm sure we'll be just fine tomorrow, but it's good to be prepared for absolutely anything. Knowing Kakashi-sensei as I do, the test is going to be _anything_ but easy."

Seeing the Nara nod and walk off, waving good-bye to the blonde, Naruto soon found himself grinning. Soon he was in the sky, clad in his Dragoon armor and flying through the sky on his way back home. He planned to eat a healthy dinner, train with Rose for a while, and then hit the hay. After all, tomorrow was a big day, the day he _truly_ became a genin!

_**The next day – the Third Training Ground**_

The three genin had been waiting for at least half an hour by now for their sensei to appear. Naruto knew this was unusual, but he had a damn good idea as to what was going on. The reason? He had decided to play a bit of a prank on poor Kakashi-sensei and had told Rose about the book. He might have twisted the truth a bit, but he felt it would be funny to see Kakashi running for his life from the person the blonde lived with.

After another fifteen minutes, Kakashi finally rushed into the training ground and leaped into one of the trees, doing his best to hide. It didn't work, as Rose soon appeared behind him and pressed her rapier against his neck. "Hand over the book. I'll burn it like I did the rest."

The silver-haired jonin could feel tears stinging at his eyes as he slowly withdrew the book from his pouch and handed it over. If he didn't do so, he _knew_ that Rose would rip his balls off. Besides, Kakashi Hatake had a whole slew of these very books hidden at home. He had grown so used to Rose destroying his books that he had stocked up over the years just so he would never be without his precious Icha Icha series.

Rose smirked as she looked down at the jonin. "Good boy. If you know what's good for you, you'll refrain from flashing anymore of these books in front of Naruto." Raising the book to eye level with Kakashi, the Dark Dragoon engulfed it in dark flame and let it burn to ash before the jonin's eyes. As tears streamed down his face at the destruction of what he viewed as a true masterpiece, Rose smirked and pressed her rapier against his stomach. "Now, go give the test to your genin team. I'll be watching. If you slack off even once, you're going to regret it."

Kakashi sweat dropped at this and nodded quickly. "Yes ma'am! Just please relax and let me do this my way, alright? We've trained Naruto hard, but the other two are unknowns, at least for the most part. I know what I've been told, but we don't know the full extent of their abilities. What this means is I can't go quite as hard on them as we have on Naruto. Well, at least not yet. So, relax, stay here, and watch. Okay?"

Rose sighed and nodded her head slowly. "As you wish Pervert. It would be best if the genin on your team could at least support yourself and Naruto. He may be highly trained as a Dragoon, and skilled in the ninja arts, but he is still _learning_. Should anything happen to him on one of your missions out of the village, I will hold _you_ personally accountable. Is that understood Pervert?"

Kakashi sighed and nodded his head slowly. "Yes, yes." Then, under his breath, he muttered, "I really wish you'd stop calling me that though."

Rose smirked at that and pressed her rapier against his neck again. "What was that?"

Kakashi's eye bulged slightly as he looked into Rose's face. The look on her face had him feeling terrified. "N-Nothing ma'am! I'll do my best to make the others ready as well. But, they need to pass the test first. Shikamaru and Naruto should be just fine; it's Sasuke I'm concerned about. I saw how he interacted with the others on the team yesterday and what I saw bothered me. Unless they can get Sasuke to work with them…they're going to fail."

Rose frowned at this before she looked down at Sasuke. Before Kakashi could stop her, the Dark Dragoon dropped from the tree and approached the Uchiha. Upon reaching him, she didn't even let the brat speak before she lifted him by his neck. "Listen here Brat. If you know what's good for you, you'll learn to be a team player. Fuck it up and you'll be answering to me. I assure you that you do _not_ want that. Is that understood?"

Sasuke glared hard at Rose and scoffed. "Who are you to give _me_ orders woman? I am an elite and you are just a no name nobody! Now, if you know what's good for _you_, you'll release me this instant before I make you regret laying your hands upon me."

Kakashi was at Naruto's side at this point and the two of them couldn't help but facepalm. Shikamaru didn't quite understand, but based on their reactions, he knew that things were about to get _bad_. Naruto and his sensei looked into each other's eyes and shook their heads. "Well, he just screwed himself." Seeing Kakashi nod, they both turned to see what Rose would do after being disrespected by the Uchiha.

Rose began to laugh lowly at first before it took on a sinister tone. When she had finished, the Dark Dragoon pressed her rapier against Sasuke's crotch until he screamed out. "Brat, you don't disrespect me. The only reason I don't crush you right now is because I need Naruto to pass this 'test' you're about to undergo. But you won't continue to get away with this. Cross me again and I'll ensure you _never_ get to 'rebuild your clan'. Is that understood?"

Sasuke, ever the idiot, simply chose to snarl at the woman until she actually managed to puncture his precious man parts. Screaming out again, he quickly nodded his head and actually _apologized_ until the Dragoon released him. Collapsing to the ground, the Uchiha's hands shot to his crotch and clutched it tight as tears slowly formed and began to stream down his face. Needless to say, this was both terrifying and slightly amusing for the others to see. It was also quite shocking to see the Uchiha behaving in such a way.

As Rose began to walk away to a spot where she could watch the test without getting in the way, she couldn't help but hear a threat Sasuke happened to make. Glancing over her shoulder, Rose smirked at the boy. "Threatening to inform the Council? Feel free to. I'm afraid you will be very, _very_ disappointed with the result however. So there's no point in you doing so. Be a good Brat, do as you're told, cooperate with your teammates, and pass this test if you know what's good for you Brat." Reaching a good spot in the shade, Rose closed her eyes and waited for the test to both start and finish so she could take Naruto and continue training him in the way of the Dragoon.

Kakashi looked down at Sasuke and shook his head. "Sasuke, I'm going to give you this one piece of advice: stop trying to piss her off. Actually, let me give you another piece of advice: don't make threats, especially not ones to take her before the Council. Like she said, the result would just disappoint you. Now stand up, stop clutching at your privates, and let's begin the test. It's already been delayed long enough due to, erm…'unexpected' circumstances."

Sighing, the jonin sensei took a few steps away, turned back to face his genin team, and pulled out a couple of bells. "The test is simple. You are meant to take these bells from me. Those who get the bells will pass while the one left without will go without lunch and will be sent back to the academy. Is that understood?"

Naruto and Shikamaru both instantly understood what the test was really about, while Sasuke glared at Naruto before turning his gaze to the bells. "If that's the case, I'm going to get the bells and keep these losers from progressing. They don't deserve to be ninja in the first place."

His teammates all sighed and shook their heads. It seemed that there really was no helping the idiot. After all, his arrogance really didn't seem to know any bounds. Deciding they would try and get Sasuke to cooperate during the test, Shikamaru and Naruto quickly began to formulate plans with one another while Kakashi took his place and told them they could begin. Of course, at this point, Sasuke began his assault.

With a sigh, Naruto and Shikamaru hid close to one another and continued discussing their plans, all the while letting Sasuke fail miserably in his assault. "Kakashi-sensei won't fall to a frontal assault. He's really skilled, and he's got some powerful ninjutsu at his disposal, but I doubt he'll use too much of that against us. Kakashi-sensei is also skilled in genjutsu, so be extra careful. If you feel like you've been trapped in a genjutsu, you already know how to dispel it." Sighing to himself, Naruto glanced over and saw Sasuke get thrown away before Kakashi disappeared from view. "And as Sasuke just found out, Kaka-sensei is skilled in taijutsu as well. He's a tough opponent, and I know I've never beaten him in a spar."

Shikamaru nodded at that and closed his eyes, letting himself think. "It's as we thought then. The purpose of this test is to test our teamwork capabilities. And with Sasuke being the way he is, we're _all_ going to fail this test. So, unless we can convince Sasuke to work with us, we're practically doomed. Even if we were to back him up and snatch the bells in the process, we would _still_ fail."

They released a sigh at the same time before glancing upwards. "Heya Kaka-sensei. We've figured out your test, buuut….yeah. Sasuke-teme didn't listen to Rose-chan. We'll figure something out." Seeing Kakashi Hatake nod his head, both Naruto and Shikamaru were soon forced to dodge in separate directions as he unleashed a water jutsu upon them.

Now separated from Shikamaru, Naruto shook his head and glanced in the direction he had last seen Sasuke. The Uchiha had moved by this point, but the blonde figured that the best course of action would be to find Sasuke and do his best to convince him to cooperate with him for once. At the same time, Naruto figured that Shikamaru would have already formed the same plan of action and would probably be devising some way to convince Sasuke to cooperate. So, with plan in mind, Naruto set off to find Sasuke.

_**Seven minutes later**_

Upon finding Sasuke, Naruto and Shikamaru, who had arrived just seconds after Naruto arrived, began to try and convince their idiot teammate to behave and cooperate with them. Unfortunately, the Uchiha just wasn't having any of it and _still_ refused to play along.

Grumbling angrily, Naruto chose to slug Sasuke and watched as he fell to the ground rubbing his now injured cheek. "Pull that fucking stick out of your ass and cooperate already. Do you WANT Rose-chan to chop your precious parts off?! Because she will, I guarantee it."

Sasuke snarled and was about to retort until he saw Rose smirking in their direction from where she was resting. Eyebrow twitching to the point it became almost dangerous for the Uchiha, Sasuke turned to Naruto and Shikamaru and reluctantly agreed to work with them. "Fine damn it! I'd rather not have some psycho-bitch tear 'em off. I assume you dobes have some kind of plan?"

Naruto couldn't help but facepalm when he heard what Sasuke called Rose. "Sasuke, don't ever call Rose-chan that again. If she doesn't end up killing you for it, I'll kick your damn ass for it. Understand teme?" When the Uchiha looked like he was about to retort, Naruto punched him hard in the stomach and gripped his hair tight. "Don't speak unless you're going to say you understand and will do as I say. From now on, you're going to be a team player. If you dare step out of line even once, I'll do much worse than a simple punch to your stomach. Is that understood _loser_?"

Sasuke was practically snarling at this point, but when he nodded, Shikamaru decided it was best to go over their plans. So for a time, Shikamaru discussed the plan he had come up with with the two. As they talked, only very minor adjustments were made to the plan, but overall, it was a sound strategy in their opinion and they decided to go with it. Now they just had to find where Kakashi was and win the bells from him.

_**Three Minutes Later – Clearing**_

Naruto and Shikamaru weren't at all surprised to see Kakashi waiting for them in the clearing where the test had began. Stepping out to stand a short distance away from his jonin sensei, Naruto twirled his lance around a moment before smirking at his sensei. "I hope you're ready for this Kaka-sensei. Here I come!"

Dashing forward, the blonde Uzumaki began unleashing a flurry of attacks with his lance, though Kakashi managed to either dodge or block each strike with a couple of kunai. "You've thought something up already, haven't you Naruto-kun? Tell me, was it you or Shikamaru that thought up the plan? I know you wouldn't attack me like this unless something was going on."

Naruto smirked and nodded his head. "Yeah, you're right. But you know I'm not going to tell you which of us thought up the plan. After all, we kinda have to keep you guessing if we want any chance at snatching those bells." At this point, Naruto attempted to perform an Addition, but Kakashi managed to counter him and sent Naruto flying back some feet before falling on his back.

Wincing in pain, the blonde pushed himself up off the ground and nodded. "Yeah, I didn't think that'd work. Ah well, it was worth a shot." Slipping his lance away, letting it rest nicely on his back, Naruto quickly went through a series of hand seals before bringing his hand up to his mouth and breathing in quickly. Releasing his breath, Naruto unleashed a large fireball towards his sensei that he was forced to block with a water jutsu. After all, it wouldn't be good to let the trees catch on fire, so he had to do something.

As a direct result of this, the area was blanketed by steam. This severely hindered the vision of everyone in the vicinity. _Tch, so that was part of your plan. Too bad it won't work Naruto-kun._ Reaching a hand down, Kakashi was about to pat the bells when he felt his body freeze. Seeing a figure appear a short distance off in the fog, the jonin chuckled to himself. "The Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique), eh? Clever, but not quite good enough. You won't be able to hold me long enough to snatch the bells Shikamaru."

At this, Shikamaru had Kakashi reach down and pat the spot where the bells were supposed to be. Stepping closer, thus making his sensei approach him as well, the Nara could be seen smirking. "Naruto was merely a distraction. Sasuke and I were simply waiting for our moment to strike. We figured that since you and Naruto are so familiar with each other that he would naturally be the best person to keep you occupied until it was our time to strike. As soon as you began preparing your jutsu to counter Naruto's Katon (Fire Release) jutsu, Sasuke took that moment to snatch the bells. However, we couldn't risk you catching on, so I proceeded to trap you in my Kagemane no Jutsu until Sasuke had shared the other bell with Naruto."

Kakashi watched as Naruto and Sasuke appeared as soon as the fog had started to clear. The two of them were showing off the bells they had stolen from the jonin. Sasuke had his usual arrogant smirk on his face while Naruto was simply smiling brightly at his sensei. When he was released, Kakashi eye smiled and decided to voice a question to Shikamaru. "Why didn't you plan to take a bell for yourself Shikamaru-kun? The thought has to have crossed your mind?"

The Nara boy shook his head and yawned shortly before throwing his arms behind his head and looking skyward. "Not really. Sasuke didn't eat breakfast, just like we suspected he wouldn't. And Naruto has a bottomless pit of a stomach. Sure, he ate breakfast, but he's bound to be hungry again soon enough. I'm sure you, as one of Naruto-san's friends, know this very well by now?"

Kakashi Hatake chuckled and nodded slowly. "Yes, that is very true. But you still haven't answered my question Shikamaru-kun."

Sighing, the brown-haired young man shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. I'll admit, the thought did cross my mind of requesting that Sasuke give the other bell to me, but I didn't need it. As you said, the loser has to go without lunch. I can handle that, but is that really the point? The point of the test was teamwork. You already know we figured that out pretty early on. Sasuke was the only one being stubborn about it. At least until Naruto managed to convince him to cooperate. So y'see Kakashi-sensei, we worked together and conquered your little test. At this point in time, I'll admit that our teamwork isn't the greatest, but that's where the beauty of training comes in. We can hone our skills as a team, develop stronger bonds, and even grow stronger through your training as individuals."

The silver-haired jonin chuckled and nodded in response before motioning towards the posts. "You're right. The three of you did pass the test, and nobody will be tied to a post. Go ahead and eat your lunches and then head on home or do whatever else you had planned for today. Meet back here tomorrow morning at 8:00 for training exercises and information on the kinds of missions we'll be taking until I deem you ready for the bigger missions. Understood?"

Seeing each of his genin nod and head off to eat their lunches by the posts, the jonin sensei walked to Rose and stood at her side. "Sooo, are you planning to let Sasuke get away with what he said about you?"

Rose smirked and shook her head. "I figured you were watching them. I'm not sure if they noticed you or not, but it doesn't really matter now, does it? I do know you let them win. You could have very easily kept the bells without them ever laying a single finger on them. You're too soft Pervert." Turning her head just slightly so she could peer at Kakashi with one of her eyes, the Dark Dragoon donned a dark grin. "In response to your question: no. Brat isn't getting away with calling me a psycho-bitch. I do believe I'll be paying him a little 'visit' later. After all, he needs to learn something called _respect._"

Kakashi sighed and nodded his head. "I'll be sure to inform Hokage-sama that he should be expecting screaming tonight. He can at least inform the ANBU not to get involved." With a shrug of his shoulders, the one-eyed man turned to watch his genin. "I thought you didn't really care if you were called that by anyone though?"

Rose shrugged her shoulders before responding. "I don't. I just don't like Brat."

Kakashi nodded and decided it was best to just remain quiet for a time before he finally disappeared in a Konoha-Shunshin to go and report to the Hokage.

_**Three weeks later – Hokage Office**_

True to Rose's word and Kakashi's fears, the night of the genin test, horrible screams could be heard throughout the entirety of Konoha. Many people had a hard time getting to sleep, but there was one individual who got very, _very_ little sleep that night: Sasuke Uchiha. When he arrived at the training field the next day, Sasuke looked terrible, and yet he didn't have any injuries on his body. When asked about what happened to him, the Uchiha looked around at his teammates and shuddered, quickly hugging himself tight. "Horrible genjutsu…..such a horrible genjutsu…..I couldn't break it….." Needless to say, the others left it alone and didn't bother to question him on it any longer. It was obvious that _none_ of them were planning to ask Rose either about what she did to Sasuke.

For most of the month thus far after passing the genin test, Team 7 worked on teamwork exercises, chakra control, jutsu theory, and more. There were also practice sessions where Kakashi would bring in a chunin or low-ranking jonin to assist him in teaching his team about what their duties as a strike team would entail. Of course, they hadn't been fully prepared for absolutely _everything_, but they were at least beginning to act as a cohesive unit.

One thing that frustrated each of them, Kakashi included, was the absurd number of D-rank missions they had to undertake. None of these really mattered to any of them, as they didn't really coincide with their team's purpose. However, they hadn't really had any choice _but_ to undertake these missions until their sensei felt they were truly ready for the kinds of missions they would be attempting outside of the village.

Now in the present, Team 7 stood before the Sandaime Hokage after returning Tora once again to its owner. Sasuke, who had had absolutely ENOUGH of catching that damn cat and dealing with all the other D-rank missions, finally spoke up. "Hokage-sama, I think we're more than ready for a better mission by now. Give us something that will _truly_ test our skills. Don't you think we've earned that?"

Naruto sighed and glanced to Shikamaru, who nodded and stepped forward. "It's troublesome, but I agree with Sasuke. We're ready to undertake our first real mission Hokage-sama. We won't get any real experience in our role as a strike force going on as we have been. There's no better way to test our capabilities than giving us a C-rank or better mission."

Naruto Uzumaki nodded at this point and stepped forward. "We understand that we'll have a variety of missions that we'll have to work on in the future, ranging from escort missions to assassinations. Heck, we know there's a lot we have to expect due to the role of our team. But I really do think we're ready. It's time to give us a real test Jiji."

The silver-haired jonin sensei of the group sighed heavily before eye smiling at the Hokage and rubbing the back of his head. "I agree with my team Hokage-sama. They're ready for a C-rank mission. It's a good idea, and I hope you'll at least consider it."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slowly as he thought over everything they had said and what Kakashi's reports had indicated about the team. After a few moments, the Sandaime requested that someone go and fetch someone named Tazuna.

Moments later, when Tazuna entered the room, the three genin couldn't help but cringe at the foul odor emanating from the man. He didn't stink in the way that a person who hasn't taken a shower in a while would smell. No, he reeked of alcohol, and _strong_ alcohol at that! When the man looked at them, the genin each frowned at the scowl this man had on his face.

Turning to the Hokage, the man known as Tazuna kept the scowl on his face. "What's this? Have you finally found a team to help me out? If so, I don't really see much here. I see a Cyclops, a shrimp, a lazy-looking bum of a kid, and some overconfident brat. Surely you can do better than this?"

The Hokage frowned at the attitude Tazuna had, but looked to Team 7 and smiled politely. "I assure you that Team 7 is a skilled team that is more than capable of protecting you Tazuna-san. Trust in my decision and believe in their abilities. They will keep you safe."

Tazuna sighed and nodded slowly. "If you say so. I have to leave soon. Can you guys meet me at the gate in a couple of hours? It's important that I get back as soon as possible. I don't like to leave my family alone for too long."

At this point, the Hokage decided to chime in once again. "Tazuna-san has requested a team to escort him back to the Land of Waves and to protect him while he finishes building a bridge to connect his land to the mainland. This would increase trade with the Land of Waves, which would help them greatly. At the worst, you can expect bandits, but that's about it. From what we have been told, it's not too dangerous a mission, but you should be careful nonetheless. It may be only a C-rank mission, but anything can happen outside of the village."

Kakashi nodded and instructed his genin to collect everything they would need for the mission before dismissing them from the room. Soon after, Tazuna left to head to the gate and wait for Team 7's arrival.

Now alone in the room with the Sandaime, the silver-haired jonin turned to the Hokage and frowned beneath his mask. "I get the feeling Tazuna-san isn't telling us everything. What do you think Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and rested his chin atop his hands as he often did. "Without solid proof, there's not much that can be said or done. For now, proceed with the mission as you normally would. Send a report back to me should anything happen that is not within the mission parameters. Is that understood Hatake-san?" Seeing Kakashi nod, the Sandaime dismissed him and watched the jonin leave. As soon as he was gone, the Hokage giggled perversely and reached into his desk drawer, withdrawing one of his Icha Icha books to enjoy for a time.

_**Uzumaki-Namikaze Estate**_

Naruto sat with Rose on one of the couches in the living room area. The bag of Dragoon Spirits rested on the table before them, and the two were lost in conversation. "Naruto, do you realize what you're asking? Do you even recognize the risks of this plan of yours?"

The young Uzumaki frowned, but nodded his head regardless. "I know it's dangerous and very risky, but you said it yourself the other day: we haven't had any luck finding any information in the village, nor have we found any of the other Dragoons. I think the best thing we can do now is to let me carry the Dragoon Spirits with me on missions that lead me out of the village. There's a good chance that some, maybe _all_ of them if we're really unlucky, are to be found outside of our village. Can't you please just trust in me this time Rose-chan?"

His fellow Dragoon leaned back and released a frustrated sigh. "You're absolutely sure about this?" Looking down at her companion, Rose saw Naruto nod, a strangely confident look on his face. Sighing again, she leaned forward and grabbed the bag before dropping it gently in Naruto's lap. "Don't lose it, and don't let another one of the Dragoon Spirits get stolen. We can't have another incident like the last time happen _ever_ again. Do you understand me?"

Naruto nodded and quickly threw his arms around Rose, hugging her tight. "I promise that nothing will happen. I'll take good care of these Rose-chan! You'll see, I'll be back in one piece with all Dragoon Spirits still with me. Though, I kinda hope I manage to find another one of the Dragoons so we don't have to search too hard for too many of them." Chuckling to himself, Naruto released Rose and rubbed the back of his head. "I, uhh…I gotta go now Rose-chan. I'll be back when my mission is done. Not sure when that'll be, buuut…you know, don't wait for me." Shrugging, the blonde gave Rose another hug before dashing out the door.

Rose sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "I'm really going soft on this kid. If he wasn't the Jade Dragoon, I probably wouldn't have paid him any attention or even stuck around him for this long." Rising from the couch, the Dark Dragoon went upstairs to her room and began looking around for some casual clothes. "The best thing I can do right now is continue my search for clues in the village. Maybe if I dress more like one of the villagers I could get some more information? Tch." With a shrug of her shoulders, the Dark Dragoon picked out an outfit that most resembled something she had seen one of the villagers wearing just a week earlier. "If I don't find any information soon, I might just kill something."

_**Later, road to the Land of Waves**_

So far the mission had been rather uneventful. Kakashi had talked with Tazuna about what they could expect while the genin kept an eye on their surroundings. This was their first time out of the village and they felt it was important that they do a good job and not screw this up. Naruto had tucked the bag of Dragoon Spirits inside of one of his vest pockets.

Yes, Naruto wasn't wearing the orange outfit one would expect him to wear normally. Instead, Rose had practically beaten that obsession out of him. She had declared that wearing such a bright color as a ninja in this world would only get him killed, and she wouldn't tolerate it. So, she had picked out dark green and black colors for his new outfit that would provide him with a bit more stealth when hiding.

His pants were black with dark orange and green stripes running up and down the legs. The pants had deep pockets, making it easy to carry a number of things inside. On his feet, he wore pretty basic ninja sandals. They weren't anything special or flashy, or anything similar. For his top, the blonde ninja wore a black short-sleeved shirt with a dark green protective vest hanging over that. It didn't restrict his movements and actually provided a strange sort of comfort as he walked. But more importantly to Naruto was the fact that the Dragoon Spirits could be safely hidden within one of the vest's inner pockets and sealed within by a blood seal so nobody could steal them.

It took some time, but as they neared a puddle, the members of Team 7 all picked it out as odd and prepared themselves for an ambush. Passing it by, they quickly reacted as soon as two chunin-ranked ninja leaped out and attempted to attack Kakashi. They didn't get very far however as they soon found themselves unable to move. Shikamaru had been prepared and had caught the Demon Brothers with his Kagemane no Jutsu, all to allow his teammates to take action. Without their mobility being available to them, Naruto and Sasuke were able to make short work of the chunin and tied the two of them up against a tree after stripping them of their equipment.

Needless to say, but this particular circumstance proved to be a bit outside of the mission parameters. Team 7 proceeded to question Tazuna about the attack, and soon managed to coerce the old man into spilling the beans. Once the truth had been revealed to them, Kakashi looked to his genin and decided to leave it up to them to decide on their next course of action. Should they leave Tazuna to his own devices and return to the village? Or should Team 7 continue with the mission and protect the bridge builder regardless of the increased risk involved? Once everyone had agreed to continue with the mission, each for different reasons, Kakashi sent a letter back to the Sandaime to inform him of the problem encountered and where they could find the Demon Brothers. Afterwards, Team 7 continued on their way with the old man Tazuna.

_**A short time after entering the Land of Waves**_

While their first opponents weren't anything special, this new one was a danger and Kakashi knew it. In fact, upon being attacked by Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist, the jonin had ordered his genin team to take a particular formation and protect Tazuna no matter what. However, that plan fell to pieces as soon as Zabuza had used his Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Jutsu) and blanketed the entire area in a heavy mist that none of them could see through. Needless to say, this caused the entire situation to really turn to shit, as Naruto had so elegantly put it after Zabuza had disappeared.

Moments later, when Zabuza appeared in the middle of the genin, ready to cut down the bridge builder, Naruto reacted quickly and blocked the Kubikiribocho (Decapitating Carving Knife) with his lance. With a good bit of effort, the blonde managed to force Zabuza to jump back and away before brandishing his lance in a new stance and preparing to actually fight the Demon of the Hidden Mist if he truly had to. Therefore, Naruto was actually quite thankful when Kakashi managed to disperse the mist and do battle with Zabuza on even ground.

At least, that's how it seemed until Kakashi got caught in that damned Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)! As soon as Kakashi was caught, the genin released simultaneous sighs and grumbles before preparing to take on Zabuza to free their sensei. Of course, in order to do so, they first had to get past Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone).

Thinking something up on the spot, Naruto quickly pulled out a few fuma shuriken and tossed them both to Sasuke. "Sasuke, use these!"

Upon catching them, Sasuke could instantly tell what it was Naruto had planned and smirked as he drew a few shuriken of his own to add into the mix. So, while Naruto and Shikamaru kept the Mizu Bunshin busy, Sasuke threw the shuriken at the real Zabuza. Most he dodged, but one of the fuma shuriken he had caught.

As their opponent prepared to throw it right back at Sasuke, the fuma shuriken that he had dodged exploded in a puff of smoke. Shocked at this, Zabuza turned his head just in time to see an armor-clad Naruto swooping towards him, preparing to use a Dragoon Addition to free Kakashi. Cursing at his luck, the Demon of the Hidden Mist released Kakashi and leaped back to avoid being taken out by the Jade Dragoon.

Now free, Kakashi glanced over at the fallen Mizu Bunshin that Sasuke and Shikamaru had defeated before turning his gaze to the Dragoon standing next to him. "So that's what you look like when you transform. You told me about this before, but I haven't seen it until now. You look good like that Naruto-kun." Eye smiling at his genin, the jonin sensei patted Naruto on his head. "You can return to protecting Tazuna now Naruto-kun. I can handle Zabuza."

And handle Zabuza Kakashi did. The battle had quickly turned in Kakashi's favor, but right as he was about to deal the killing blow, a hunter nin from Kirigakure used senbon to finish the Demon of the Hidden Mist off and disappeared with the body. Thankful to be rid of Zabuza either way, the group prepared to continue on to Tazuna's house before Kakashi suddenly collapsed to the ground. Sighing at this, Naruto and Sasuke moved to Kakashi's side and began to half carry, half drag their sensei all the way to Tazuna's house.

_**A short time later – Tazuna's House**_

Upon arriving at Tazuna's home, the team met both Tsunami (Tazuna's daughter) and Inari (Tsunami's son and Tazuna's grandson). While Tsunami was a kind woman and very thankful to the team, Inari was disrespectful, rude, and insisted that they shouldn't even bother. Team 7 decided to ignore the little brat for the time being as Naruto asked Tsunami if there was a room that Kakashi Hatake could rest in.

Sasuke and Shikamaru watched as Tazuna and Naruto carried Kakashi off upstairs. Turning back to Tsunami, they began making small talk with her, curious to know the extent of the situation in Wave. They had also proceeded to explain just what had happened and what kinds of threats her dear father was facing in his quest to build the great bridge.

Meanwhile, upstairs in Kakashi's room, Naruto sat watching over him. Tazuna had returned downstairs to help his daughter with the cooking, even though she insisted he should just sit and rest. Now alone in the room with his sensei, Naruto was considering trying something out that Rose had explained to him some time ago.

_**Flashback – 2 years ago**_

_"Naruto, I'm going to teach you about the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit now." Rose explained as she withdrew it from the bag. "Before you ask, yes, it's important for you to understand at least this particular Dragoon Spirit. This Dragoon Spirit possesses the power of healing. While we cannot directly access its power, should we hold our Dragoon Spirit close and then focus our will on both Spirits, we can use the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit in conjunction with our own to heal both body and spirit. I'll show you what I mean."_

_ Seeing as Naruto had been injured earlier whilst training with Yugao, Rose held out both the Dark Dragoon Spirit and the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit and focused until both Spirits began to glow brightly. It didn't take long after that for Naruto's wounds to heal._

_ When it was all over, Naruto's eyes were bright and he couldn't help but shout out after that. "That was _awesome_, dattebayo! I can't wait to try that out!"_

_ Rose chuckled softly before slipping both Dragoon Spirits away. "Don't be so eager to try that Naruto. I don't want you accidentally injuring yourself to the point where you really need to use it."_

_ Naruto quirked a brow at that and crossed his arms over his chest. "Who says I'd be the one so badly injured that I'd _need_ to use it on myself? Are you implying something Rose-chan?"_

_ The Dark Dragoon chuckled again and shook her head. "I was just using you as an example Naruto. Now go shower and get some sleep. You're training with Yugao and that highly disturbing taijutsu master tomorrow, and I do believe you'll want to be well rested for that."_

_**Present Time – Kakashi's Room**_

Chuckling at that memory, Naruto soon went to rummage around in the bag, only for his sensei to awaken. Looking at him, the blonde grinned and raised a finger. "Just relax for now Kakashi-sensei. You wore yourself out, and I think I know why. You overused that Sharingan of yours, didn't you? Well not to worry, I've got just the thing to help you recover!"

Seeing Kakashi's confusion, Naruto began digging around in the bag of Dragoon Spirits, only for one of them to begin glowing brightly. Curious, Naruto pulled the glowing Dragoon Spirit from the bag and watched it glow even brighter than it had been just seconds ago. "Well that's new." Then, upon looking at his sensei, Naruto decided to try something. "Hey Kaka-sensei, hold this for a moment."

Kakashi Hatake blinked a few times before reaching out and taking the glowing Dragoon Spirit in hand. What happened next shocked the hell out of the jonin as he was suddenly transformed, violet-colored Dragoon armor covering his body from head to toe. Glancing behind him, the jonin sensei couldn't help but notice the wings that were attached. When he was finished checking himself over, Kakashi looked down at the Dragoon Spirit before looking back into Naruto's eyes. "Naruto, what the heck just happened? What does this mean?"

Naruto felt like facepalming at the moment. All this time and they hadn't ever thought to check Naruto's senseis to see if one of them might be a Dragoon! Laughing almost hysterically at the irony of it all, the blonde shook his head and smiled brightly at his sensei. "Kakashi-sensei, it looks like you're the Violet Dragoon, the Dragoon of Thunder. Congratulations!"

**A/N: Okay, most of you who read my fics already know that my health is pretty crappy. Well, here's the thing: from before I even started this chapter to the very end and even up to now while I'm writing this Author's Note for you all, I've been feeling so incredibly tired. I've been feeling just awful, and I kept taking breaks to get some more sleep. I hoped that after some more rest, I would be feeling a bit better upon waking, but that was never the case. So I pushed myself to just fight through the way I've been feeling and just write. It's a miracle this chapter ended up being as long as it did, but at the same time...I do apologize if the chapter isn't as good as you would've liked. It was hard, but I wanted to give everybody another chapter.**

**Anyways, feel free to review/comment, send a PM, whatever you'd like. Chapter 7 of Mercy of the Shinigami is up next. Hope you're looking forward to it.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Birth of the Water Dragoon**

The day after Kakashi had become the Violet Dragoon, he had agreed to train Team 7 quite vigorously in not just the next step in chakra control, water-walking, but in jutsus that would help them greatly when they next met Zabuza and his apprentice. Not only that, but Kakashi had decided to request help from Naruto in training himself as a Dragoon. Sadly, Naruto did not carry the previous Dragoons' weapons on him, so he was unable to pass Haschel's knuckles weapons down to his ninja sensei. This did not worry Kakashi Hatake however, as he confirmed with his genin student that he could always be given the weapons upon their return to Konohagakure.

So, with a plan set, Team 7 set out to begin their training. Of course, one of them would always have to watch after Tazuna, so they would have to take turns guarding the bridge builder. Seeing as how Kakashi Hatake had recovered the night before, he opted to take the first shift immediately upon setting his team of genin to their training regimen for the day. Due to their individual styles of combat, they would each be learning different types of jutsu. However, he would first have them learn water-walking before they got started on that.

Things continued like this for three days, their stay in Wave Country consisting of training, guarding Tazuna, eating two meals a day, and resting. Sadly, the bridge builder's grandson, Inari, continued to hassle Team 7 every night, treating them like they were stupid for even staying in the country to begin with. On the third night, Naruto finally got fed up with it and he decided it was time to lecture the little brat and shut him up for once.

As he rose from his chair, not even having finished his meal yet, the blonde Dragoon thrusted a finger in Inari's face. "Listen here you little brat and I'll tell you why we stay. We are shinobi, proud ninja that are not only highly skilled and respected by people worldwide, but we are good people as well. We ninja help people by taking the missions we do, and we save lives. The rewards we get are not what truly matter to me. What matters to me if helping as many people as I possibly can. But there's more to it than just that."

Kneeling down so he was eye level with the kid, Naruto Uzumaki spoke a bit softer. "Think about the big picture for a moment Inari. I don't give a damn about the pain you've been through or who you've lost, because, in the end, that doesn't matter." Seeing the kid was about to interrupt, the blonde genin pinched his ear and refused to let go even as he winced in pain. "Don't interrupt me and don't make any noise Inari. Everyone in Wave is suffering right now because of Gato and his men. People are dying, children are starving, and women are suffering in ways best not thought about. Now, imagine what would happen if we gave up on your mission and left. Your grandfather would die and the bridge would never be finished. Gato would continue to make everyone in Wave suffer more and more. Your mother? She's a beautiful woman and I can only imagine that because your grandfather dared to stand up to Gato that he would do such terrible things to her she'd never be the same again. And you? I guarantee that they wouldn't hesitate to kill you Inari. We are the only thing standing between that fate and Gato. So suck it up, stop being such a miserable pain-in-the-ass, and think on that for a good, long while until you understand just how lucky you are to have a family that loves you, to have a roof over your head, to have _food_! I didn't always have that. I was miserable every day for so long, and…"

Shaking his head at this point, Naruto Uzumaki stood back up, turned around and walked towards the door. "You know what? It doesn't matter. You can't respect anyone and you're too busy wallowing in your own self-pity. I'm going to go train for a while. If I stay here I'd likely pummel the crap out of you, you stupid brat." And with that, the blonde Dragoon left Tazuna's house and ventured into the woods to continue his training.

_**The Next Morning – Forest**_

A beautiful young woman was walking the forest, carrying a basket of herbs and occasionally picking more herbs to take with her. As she walked along, this young woman hummed a beautiful tune, though it wasn't one well known to the people of Wave. Eventually, this woman came across a mop of blonde hair, and upon closer inspection, she saw the person this hair belonged to. Taking a few steps forward, she recognized the boy and a frown marred her features.

When the woman came closer, she suddenly found the boy's lance pressed against her neck. Glancing down, she noticed that one of his eyes was open. "Sorry, but one can never be too cautious. I will remove my lance, but don't make any sudden movements." Moving the lance to his side as he rose, Naruto eyed the girl curiously. "What are you doing out here so early in the day, and by yourself no less?"

The black-haired woman smiled softly and knelt down next to the boy, looking him in the eyes as she answered. "I'm gathering herbs for my uncle. He's not doing so well and I'm simply looking after him until he recovers. Now, what are you doing out here? I'm not used to seeing ninja in these parts, nor have I seen any ninja using such a weapon. Who might you be?"

The blonde genin chuckled to himself and tapped his hitai-ate. "Pretty obvious huh?" Seeing the girl nod, Naruto Uzumaki smiled and looked towards the sky. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, a genin from Konohagakure. I can't reveal _why_ I'm here, but I can explain why I'm using this weapon I suppose." Looking into the girl's eyes, the Jinchuriki grinned. "Let's just say I'm kind of _special_. Because of that, I've had extensive training in the use of this weapon. It belonged to somebody important from the past, and I'm glad that I can carry on his legacy."

Nodding in semi-understanding, the young woman smiled and patted the boy on his shoulder. "It sounds like you are a good person indeed, Naruto Uzumaki. My name is Haku, and it has been a great pleasure meeting you. Perhaps if we get the chance to see each other again, we could talk longer?"

Naruto frowned at that, but nodded slowly. "You already have to go, huh? Ah well, it was nice talking with you Haku-chan. I would enjoy another, _longer_ conversation with you someday. This one was far too short. You seem like a kindhearted person to me."

Nodding at that, the two stood up and brushed themselves off. As Haku began to walk away, she suddenly thought of something she wanted to ask the boy. Turning back around, the young woman smiled slightly and eyed him curiously. "Naruto-kun, do you have anyone you want to protect, perchance?"

Quirking a brow at the odd question, the young man shrugged his shoulders and nodded without a hint of hesitation. "Of course. I really want to look after Rose-chan and keep her safe. She's my most important person and, after everything that's happened, I don't ever want to see her sad again. I failed to protect something important to her in the past, and even if Jiji and Rose-chan say it wasn't my fault, I can't help but feel kind of guilty over it. After all, it was the only thing she had that belonged to someone very important to her in the past, and it was stolen by some terrible people…"

Sighing to himself, Naruto noticed the look Haku was giving him. She looked saddened, so he quickly waved his hands before him and offered a small smile. "Please don't look so sad Haku-chan. I'll get it back someday. Besides, you asked me if I had somebody to protect, right? Jiji is somebody else I really want to protect, along with my team and friends from the academy…wait…I didn't really _have_ any friends…" Sighing sadly, the blonde genin looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet a bit. "Sasuke really doesn't give a crap about me, but I get along with Shika pretty well, so that's nice. Kakashi-sensei is awesome, and we've spent a lot of time together, sooo…that's cool. Then there's Guy-sensei and Yugao-onee-chan too. Oh! There's Teuchi-san and Ayame-nee-chan too! But…that's kind of it. I…well…things haven't been so great in the village. I'd explain, but they're pretty bad memories for me."

Haku looked concerned for the boy, so she quickly approached and hugged the boy close with her free hand. "Please don't sound so sad Naruto-kun. You are a good person and I know you'll only grow stronger with time. Protect those dear to you and I'm certain you'll become strong enough to do so. Sadly, as much as I would like to stay and talk with you, I really do have to leave. Please take care of yourself, okay?"

Nodding slowly, the blonde gently hugged the girl back before watching her walk off, disappearing into the woods. After a few minutes, Sasuke appeared in the clearing and sighed as he noticed his teammate in a kind of daze. Snapping his fingers for a moment to get Naruto Uzumaki's attention, the Uchiha narrowed his eyes at him. "Damn it dobe, don't zone out like that. I was sent to tell you breakfast is ready. Get back to the house and eat. I'm going to get to training."

Naruto nodded slowly and thanked his teammate before rushing off to get some breakfast. As he rushed off, the blonde couldn't help but think about his encounter with Haku. _She really was very pretty, but I can't help but think Rose-chan is more beautiful. Still, their personalities are very different. Haku is really kind, while Rose-chan is strict, but caring. I wonder what it would be like to be friends and to spend time with both._

_**Three Days Later – Bridge**_

As they stood on the bridge, having sent the workers home for the day, Team 7, minus Naruto, who had been left to guard Tazuna's daughter and grandson, watched as Zabuza and his apprentice came into view. Some small talk was made, but everyone watched as Sasuke and Haku began to clash. While in the beginning, it appeared that the two were evenly matched, things soon became very, very bad.

Zabuza's apprentice had unleashed her kekkei genkai, or at least one of its main abilities, and trapped her opponent in a dome of 21 mirrors of ice. Needless to say, the battle quickly turned into her favor and the Uchiha was quickly losing the battle.

Kakashi Hatake, noticing this, attempted to reach his genin student in order to save him from his powerful opponent. However, Zabuza Momochi quickly blocked the silver-haired man's way and used his Kirigakure no Jutsu to make the battle that much more difficult for his opponent. When this happened, Kakashi of the Sharingan frowned beneath his mask and began wishing Naruto would make his appearance already. _The Jade Dragoon has power over the wind. Naruto could probably easily disperse this fog…_

Thankfully, just a few minutes into his battle with Zabuza, everyone heard the Jade Dragoon's voice shouting from the other end of the bridge. Although they couldn't understand what it was Naruto had said, it was evident he had done _something_. Within an instant, a very strong wind began blowing through the area and before they knew it, all the fog was blown away.

Zabuza's eyes went wide as he looked around in shock. "What the hell?! That shouldn't be possible!" Glaring towards the end of the bridge at the boy clad in green armor, the Demon of the Hidden Mist snarled. "You little punk! Obviously I need to kill you _now_!"

However, as Zabuza prepared to attack the young Uzumaki, he felt something change in the man he had been fighting just moments before. Turning towards Kakashi Hatake, Zabuza was shocked to see that he, too, had transformed, donning armor similar to the kind young Naruto was wearing. Before the swordsman could so much as move, he was struck by a powerful bolt of lightning that caused him to collapse, his body spasming as he struggled just to stay conscious after receiving such a powerful magical attack.

As Kakashi quickly reversed his transformation, unable to hold it for more than a single spell or attack, Naruto also reverted, still not having the kind of experience in battle required to sustain it for more than a single spell. Quickly rushing forward, Naruto watched in shock as Sasuke was struck down by dozens of ice needles. Shock taking over, the young Dragoon could feel a strong sense of anger and sadness washing over him.

Despite the fact that the two were never close, Naruto still cared for his teammate and honestly didn't think he could be beaten in such a way. As the blonde Dragoon tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened, he felt himself moving forward. In an instant, the young woman that had struck Sasuke down was thrown from one of her mirrors, Naruto's hand around her throat. Squeezing her neck tight, he threw his fist forward and broke the young woman's mask and prepared to punch her again.

What Naruto saw shocked him even out of his attack. Staring into her eyes, the blonde blinked as the strange power left his body. "H-Haku? Why? Why are you here…?"

Haku managed a small smile as she reached up and placed her hand gently upon Naruto's. "Z-Zabuza-sama…helped me. He gave me a purpose…" Seeing she had her friend's full attention, the young woman began to regale him with the tale of her past. She would occasionally have to pause to cough, Naruto's attacks having caused her not just visible damage, but internal damage as well.

By the time Haku had finished her tale, blood was running from the corner of her lips down her chin and she was beginning to look pale, well…_paler_. At the look in Naruto's eyes, she smiled softly and weakly hugged him. "Don't look…so sad Naruto-kun…"

"I can save you both, just don't give up on life okay? Please Haku?" Seeing her blink a moment, Naruto stared intently into the young woman's eyes and smiled when she slowly nodded her head. Quickly taking the bag of Dragoon Spirits from his belt, the young blonde reached in, intending to take hold of the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit. Only, he noticed something odd.

Pulling out the Blue-Sea Dragoon Spirit, Naruto watched as it began glowing brighter and brighter. Curious about this strange occurrence, the Jade Dragoon laid the Dragoon Spirit upon Haku's lap and watched as the young woman was transformed, beautiful blue armor now adorning her body. Naruto quickly turned his gaze away with a bright blush taking hold. "T-That armor is p-pretty revealing, don't you think?"

The Dragoon of Water was surprised at what had just transpired. Slowly feeling energy returning to her, the young woman stood up and looked herself over, blushing furiously at what she saw. "I-It is! Oh dear…"

At this point, both of them noticed Zabuza's still form lying upon the bridge a short distance from the jonin sensei of Team 7. Without a thought, both Dragoons rushed over to Zabuza's side and Naruto immediately went to work using the White-Silver Dragoon Spirit in conjunction with his Jade Dragoon Spirit to heal the downed missing nin. Sadly, it was at this point that Gato and his men made their appearance.

Ignoring the wealthy business tycoon's chatter, Naruto looked into Haku's eyes and began to speak. "Haku, I know you don't like killing, and that's okay. But these people are monsters. You have a powerful spell at your disposal. It's hard to explain it right now, but focus your will on the power inside of you and you should be able to find what you're looking for. Focus your magic on Gato. Your magic is more than enough to destroy him. Kakashi-sensei and I can handle the others if you can just take care of that."

The Blue-Sea Dragoon blinked in confusion at that, but nodded slowly as she turned her gaze on Gato. _Okay, not much advice to go on, but I think I understand. Alright Haku, focus and pull out your 'magic'. I'll have to ask him more about this later…_ After a few moments, as the thugs began to charge towards the group, the ice-user suddenly felt something and smiled. Pointing her hands palms out towards Gato, the Blue-Sea Dragoon focused on this feeling and noticed something starting to happen.

Soon, seventeen large spears of ice began spinning around the ice-user, each spear surrounded by a small ring of water. Focusing her spell on Gato and those few surrounding him, Haku unleashed her spell, three spears piercing Gato through and ending his life, while the other spears took down fourteen of the thugs. After watching the light leave their eyes, Haku collapsed to her knees and her transformation reversed. Once more she was her normal self, and she was exhausted just from that one spell.

Whistling in appreciation at this, Naruto finished healing Zabuza and rose to his feet, turning to look at the devastation caused by Haku's magic. "Nice. From what I heard from Rose-chan, your first spell should've just been focused on a single target for some pretty nice damage. But if I had to guess, I'd say your Hyoton (Ice Release) kekkei genkai actually plays a part in your Dragoon abilities as well. That's actually pretty darn awesome. It means you'll only become that much more powerful as you grow as a Dragoon."

Pausing for a moment in thought, Naruto brought a hand to his chin in thought while creating a bunch of seal-less Kage Bunshin to deal with the thugs. "Actually, if that happens to be the case, then Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan might actually affect his Dragoon abilities too. And…there's _my_ burden as well…"

Kakashi created some Kage Bunshin as well before turning to his student. "That would make sense. The question now is: exactly how will these things change our abilities from what the previous Dragoons were capable of? There's a chance we can learn some of these new abilities through training together, but I have a feeling that if we truly want to see what we're now capable of, it will have to be tested in battle."

Haku smiled at this and nodded her head. "I'm not sure what's going on or what a 'Dragoon' is, but if that's what I have become, I want to learn more about it. I could feel such power inside of me when I used that magic! I really can't help but wonder what else I can do now. I wonder if I could make my very own forest of ice…"

Naruto and Kakashi sweat dropped as they listened to the young woman prattle on about various things she now wondered if she could do now that she was a Dragoon. Despite the fact she had just killed when she didn't enjoy doing so didn't seem to even be registering in her mind. In fact, it didn't really seem as if she even registered their existence in this moment as she lost herself to her icicle fantasies.

With a shrug, Naruto turned to his sensei and grinned. "Hey, at least she's happy. It's good that she's like this now, because when she meets Rose-chan, she'll make poor Haku-chan feel like crap. Rose-chan's training is so rough." Sighing, the Jade Dragoon collapsed on his butt and glanced over his shoulder at all the thugs that had been killed by the Kage Bunshin. Shaking his head, blonde hair flapping about as he did, the young man closed his eyes. "I wish we didn't have to kill, even if it's to protect people. It's…painful."

Kakashi Hatake nodded at this point and reached out, patting his genin on his head. He could hear Shikamaru and Tazuna helping Sasuke up after the Uchiha came to, even though he still looked like a ninja pincushion somewhat. Chuckling slightly at the thought of such a thing, the Sharingan-user quickly regained his composure and spoke to his blonde student. "Sometimes there really isn't a choice Naruto-kun. We do what we have to do to complete our missions. I'll try to protect you from having to do such terrible deeds so long as you're on my team, but there may be times where we have to kill to save people. You're handling it well for this being your first kill…_kills_, but I can tell you're conflicted. Take some time to think on it, and when we get back to Konoha, talk to Rose-san. Oh Kami…"

Naruto blinked at this and looked up at his sensei. "What? Is something the matter Kakashi-sensei?" The look in his sensei's eye had the Jade Dragoon feeling quite nervous. Kakashi Hatake looked absolutely terrified and Naruto didn't really understand why that was.

Looking slowly back down at his genin student, Kakashi raised his Dragoon Spirit and watched it shine brilliantly for a moment. "I'm a Dragoon…" Seeing Naruto nod slowly, but obviously still not understanding the point, the silver-haired jonin sensei could feel a tear welling up in his eye. "This means that I have to spend more time in the company of Rose-san. I respect the woman, but she _scares_ me! She's going to somehow beat the pervert right out of me, I know it!"

Naruto Uzumaki sweat dropped at this, but didn't even bother commenting on how stupid that sounded to him. Instead, he looked to Haku and frowned as she was currently quite confused after returning from her little fantasy world of ice and bunnies, or whatever it was she had been rambling on about. Quite honestly, Naruto had tuned her out during his conversation with his sensei. "Personally, I'm more worried about Haku-chan. She has never met Rose-chan, and I'm not sure how Rose-chan will react upon meeting her. I doubt she'll be mean or anything, but she could very well drag her off to start training. This pretty much means that she won't even have the time to relish in being a Dragoon or to get used to anything…"

Sighing, the young blonde rubbed the back of his head and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I don't think Haku-chan is even going to be able to absorb all the information she's going to have to take in about what a Dragoon is and what our purpose is in the world. Heh, both of you are going to have to sit through one hell of a lecture about the history we Dragoons are now a part of. Good luck with that. I had to ask her a ton of questions when she told me about everything, and she didn't look like she enjoyed being interrupted all the time to have to explain it all. She didn't get mad at me or yell or anything, I just felt like I was disappointing her, you know? It wasn't a great feeling."

Haku Yuki frowned at this as she reached over and gently grasped her friend's hand, effectively making him blush at the contact. After all, he hadn't really had much physical contact of any kind any other woman besides Rose, let alone one quite as beautiful as the ice-using Haku is. Making him look in her eyes, the Blue-Sea Dragoon smiled and lightly kissed the boy on his forehead. "Naruto-kun, I'm sure she wasn't disappointed in you. From how you talk about her, I'd say you and Rose-san are very close. If I had to guess, I'd say she probably cares a great deal about you. Now, try to cheer up okay? Don't worry too much about Kakashi-san or myself. The two of us will be fine, and we'll gladly take on the mantle of the Dragoon. If we have been chosen, then I'm sure we are meant to serve an important role of some kind, although I'm really not sure what that is at this moment in time. I do hope to learn more from yourself and Rose-san upon returning with you to Konohagakure."

At this, Zabuza opened one of his eyes and chuckled a bit. "Just admit it Haku, your main reason for wanting to go with them is because you think he's cute." As soon as she blushed and began yelling at the swordsman to shut up, all the while denying that what he said wasn't the true reason, the Demon of the Hidden Mist broke out into a fit of laughter. "Ahhh, you are just so much fun to tease Haku. I couldn't resist." With a shrug, the man sat up and looked into the Jade Dragoon's eyes before turning to look into the eyes of the Violet Dragoon. "So, if Haku's coming, I plan to come as well. That alright with you One-Eye?"

While Naruto snickered at the nickname given to his sensei, the silver-haired Dragoon sighed and shrugged. "I suppose. If we inform Hokage-sama that you are Haku-chan's guardian, that would probably do the trick. Hokage-sama knows of the Dragoons and has been assisting Rose-san and Naruto-kun since my dear genin became a Dragoon four years ago. I do not know the full purpose for the Dragoons, nor do I know what the full power of one is like. I do know that they, _we_, are very special and very important. Then again, that's pretty much all I know about all that." Blinking at the fact he lost his train of thought, Kakashi looked down into Zabuza's eyes. "What was your question again? I think I kind of lost myself there."

Facepalming at that, Zabuza stood up and asked his question again. As the two jonin-level ninja talked amongst themselves, the Jade Dragoon glanced towards the end of the bridge where a crowd had gathered. Smirking to himself, Naruto waved his lance in the air and listened as they cheered for the heroes of Wave. "Heh, that feels kind of nice."

_**1 ½ weeks later**_

As the group of six stood on the bridge saying their good-byes to the villagers, Haku couldn't help but feel like teasing her blonde friend a little. They had grown closer as friends and had developed a good relationship with one another as such. In fact, they could often be seen talking together after Naruto finished training Kakashi and Haku for the day in the ways of the Dragoon. The blonde did the absolute best he could with said act, but he was still just a student compared to Rose, the Dark Dragoon.

Seeing as how her blonde friend would often blush should Haku do anything even a _little_ physical with the boy, such as holding his hand, kissing his cheek or forehead, or even showing a little skin from time to time, the ice-user just couldn't help but want to tease the poor boy. So, as the group began to walk away from the village, moving across the finished bridge, she snuck up on Naruto and grabbed hold of his hand. Only this time, she wrapped it around her waist before slowly moving it down to he was effectively grabbing her ass.

As her friend turned completely red at this act and began to stammer out some kind of response, most likely attempting to tell her that they shouldn't do that kind of thing, Haku began to giggle cutely at his expense. "You are too easy to tease Naru-kun. You're going to have to get used to having me around if we're going to be living together."

When his female friend winked at him, Naruto somehow managed to turn even redder! Then it registered: _live_ together! "Wait…what do you mean 'live together'?"

Smirking at this, Haku placed his hand back on her ass and laughed a little more at his expression. "Well, it wouldn't make much sense for me to live elsewhere when I need to learn from Rose-san as well, would it? I'm sure Kakashi-san might have to move in with you as well so we can begin our training right away upon waking up each day. Well, after a shower and breakfast of course." Shrugging, the black-haired lass looked into her best friend's eyes and poked his nose. "If you want, you can release me now. I just wanted to 'talk' for a while."

Walking just behind them were Shikamaru and Sasuke. Sasuke was simply grumbling at the idiotic display of affection being shown between the two in front of him. Shikamaru on the other hand sighed and shook his head. "This is just one of the reasons why I say women are so troublesome. I do not envy you Naruto, not at all."

At the back of the group was Kakashi, who couldn't help but giggle perversely at the situation his student was now in. _Naruto-kun, you really don't know how lucky you are to be living with two beautiful women. One who _clearly_ wants you and the other…ummm…how the heck _does_ one describe Rose? Beautiful, but highly sadistic? Wait, now that I think on it, is she a dominatrix? If so, she takes that just a taaad too far for my tastes. Still, imagining her like that is enough to make a man grin. Hmm, I'll have to ask her at some point if she happens to have an outfit like that…_

_**One week later – Konohagakure**_

It hadn't taken that long to return to the village, and from there they didn't waste any time in visiting the office of the Sandaime Hokage. After discussing the mission results with him, Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, Zabuza Momochi, and Haku Yuki remained behind while Sasuke Uchiha and Shikamaru Nara left with their pay for the mission to do whatever it is they wanted to do for the day.

After the Sandaime put up the privacy seal, he nodded at Naruto. "Okay, now tell me _exactly_ what happened. You said that you four needed to speak with me in private, so I assume this has something to do with the Dragoons?"

The blonde nodded slowly and motioned towards Kakashi and then to Haku with his right hand. "I feel _really_ stupid for not even thinking to try this before, but it turns out that Kakashi-sensei is the Violet Dragoon, the Dragoon of Thunder. And during the battle on the bridge, after defeating Haku-chan, I went to heal her and, well…she turned out to be the Blue-Sea Dragoon, the Dragoon of Water."

Nodding in understanding at this, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked between the three of them before looking into Zabuza Momochi's eyes. "I assume that Zabuza's presence here indicates he would like to join the village with Haku?"

Kakashi nodded at this point and looked square into the Hokage's eyes. "Yes, Hokage-sama. We discussed it before returning to the village, and we think that if Zabuza were to be named Haku's official guardian, there wouldn't be any true problems with him remaining in the village and living with his apprentice. Of course, due to the 'unique' circumstances, we also believe that it would be best if the two of them lived with Naruto-kun in his home. There's plenty of room, and Haku could easily get to know Rose-san and begin learning from her regularly without having to make some kind of schedule in order to do so. In fact, it has been suggested that I move in as well, buuut…"

Hiruzen found himself chuckling at this and shook his head. "Yes, you fear for your manhood should you spend too much time with Rose-san. I more than understand that Kakashi-san. However, because you have become one of them, I must ask that you move in with them. Not just because of the fact that you are one of the legendary Dragoons now, but because of what happened four years ago. It would be best if more people were living there to prevent such an occurrence from ever happening again."

The silver-haired jonin nodded slowly, looking absolutely defeated at this point. At this point, Naruto decided to speak up again. "Are we going to be able to make similar arrangements for the future Dragoons we encounter? We need to stay together. It wouldn't work if all the Dragoons happened to be split up, unable to contact one another and, in essence, not being able to _help_ each other or work together. The reason I ask this is because, well…" Sighing, the young Jade Dragoon rubbed the back of his head. "I know there's a chance that some of the Dragoons might be from other Hidden Villages. I don't feel comfortable just handing the Dragoons their Dragoon Spirits and saying: "Okey dokey, here ya go. You're an official Dragoon now, now head on back and enjoy the perks!" or something of that nature."

Zabuza chuckled at that before adding in his two cents. "The gaki's right. I mean, look at Haku. We aren't from your village and she became this Water Dragoon thingy. That's pretty solid evidence that you might need to explore a bit in order to find every one of these Dragoon things you're looking for. If they happen to be from a rival village, say Iwagakure, what the heck are you gonna do?"

The Sandaime rubbed his brow in frustration at the mere _thought_ of having to deal with such a thing, but nodded his head in clear understanding of the situation. "Rose-san would most likely not give them any choice in the matter, regardless of the kind of political backlash involved. I think what it will come down to is whether or not Naruto-kun can persuade these other Dragoons to stay here with him or not. If he can convince these other Dragoons of the important roles they carry and explain to them effectively that they _need_ to stay here with him…I think we can work things out. After all, it would be that ninja's choice at that point, _not_ the choice of the village they were from. Of course, said ninja would have to explain to their Kage about the importance of their decision to stay, _hopefully_ without having to explain about the Dragoons in the process. Agh, this is just too much to think about right now. Let's just deal with that when the time comes, _if_ the need arises."

Zabuza chuckled at his expense and shook his head. "In other words, hope everything goes well and doesn't result in another big war, correct?" Seeing the old man nod, the swordsman walked over and gently patted Hiruzen on the back. "No worries. The kid's pretty convincing…I think. Meh. I think everything will work out fine, sooo…yeah. Damn. I am _not_ good at this 'instilling confidence' thing, at least not when it comes to politics."

Haku found herself smirking at this point and decided to make a playful jab at her father figure. "No, Zabuza-sama. You're actually _much_ better at instilling fear in people." Giggling to herself at his reaction, a flabbergasted and disbelieving face, the ice-using Dragoon looked into Naruto's eyes and smiled. "So, do we get to go see your home now? I want to meet this Rose-san and see how I 'measure up'." Giggling a little more at Naruto's confusion, the Blue-Sea Dragoon looked to the Hokage and saw him nod, signaling that they were free to leave as he deactivated the seal.

As the two younglings left, Zabuza and Kakashi turned towards the Hokage once again. "Zabuza, here are the forms you'll need to fill out to legally adopt Haku-chan. Kakashi-san…" Looking into the jonin's eye, Hiruzen shook his head. "I'm afraid you'll likely have to go without Icha Icha for an indeterminable amount of time. You can keep a hidden stash somewhere off Naruto's property, but, should you bring it into his home, you should expect a rather _large_ bonfire made from your books. Good luck my friend." As the jonin went teary-eyed, Zabuza blinked a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and got to work filling out the forms for the adoption.

_**Uzumaki-Namikaze Estate**_

As Naruto burst through the front door of his home, he looked around and began to giggle excitedly at seeing Rose again. Creeping around, he eventually found her in the kitchen eating a small meal. "Rose-chan! I've got some good news! But first…" Rushing over, the blonde threw his arms around Rose and nestled his head into her bosom. Of course, whether he realized that he was doing or not was anyone's guess, but everyone voted for the latter option.

Rose laughed lightly and hugged the Jade Dragoon close, gently running her fingers through his hair. "It is good to see you Naruto. I was starting to become a little worried about you." Glancing up upon sensing somebody else, the Dark Dragoon narrowed her eyes before noticing the small orb in the young woman's right hand. "I see. So this was your good news? You've found the Dragoon of Water then?"

Naruto took a step back and nodded happily. "Not only that, but Kakashi-sensei turned out to be the Violet Dragoon! I can't believe we never checked him before. I felt so stupid when I found out he was a Dragoon too."

At this, Rose's left eyebrow twitched and she had to take a deep breath to calm herself. "So, the Pervert turned out to be a Dragoon, did he? I didn't _want_ to check him for a reason: he's a creep. Still, I suppose it's not that surprising to find out he's the Violet Dragoon of all things. Haschel was a perverted old man too."

The young blonde chuckled at this. "You never told me that before. Haschel, this amazing martial arts master…to think that he was a pervert as well is just…that's kind of funny in its own way. It really _does_ make a strange kind of sense then for Kakashi-sensei to be the holder of the Violet Dragoon Spirit then, doesn't it?"

Rose nodded slowly and took a bite of her toast before she glanced towards the girl watching them nervously. Getting the message, the Jade Dragoon grinned and pulled Haku into the kitchen to stand beside him. "Rose-chan, meet Haku-chan! As you've already surmised, she's the Blue-Sea Dragoon. She and her legal guardian, and Kakashi-sensei as well…they're going to be living with us from now on!"

At this, a strange sense of death and foreboding seemed to erupt around the Darkness Dragoon. Looking down at her favorite blonde, she began to chuckle darkly. "Oh will he now? If Kakashi dares to try _anything_ or even thinks to bring a single copy of that series into **our** house, I might just castrate the pervert. You do realize that, don't you Naruto?"

Naruto Uzumaki's eyes widened at the thought of such a thing happening and slowly nodded. "I-I kind of figured you would say that. But I'm sure it'll be okay! He's already kinda scared of you, so I don't think he'll give you any problems Rose-chan." After a few seconds, the blonde's eyes lit up again as he remembered something important he needed to tell his best friend. "Oh! Rose-chan, guess what!"

Seeing her eyebrow raise in curiosity at this, the Jade Dragoon continued. "Thanks to Haku-chan, I found out that certain kekkei genkai and other special things about us Dragoons can affect our abilities when we transform! When Haku went to use that magic spell you told me about, her Hyoton kekkei genkai really changed it. Lots of ice spears surrounded by small rings of water instead of, well, what you told me about the spell."

Shrugging, the young blonde looked into her eyes more seriously. "Kakashi and I think that his Sharingan might affect his Dragoon Abilities somewhat, but we don't know in what way. And then…there's my 'problem'. If I were to tap into the Kyuubi's power, how would my abilities be changed?"

Rose looked into Haku's eyes at this point and found herself smiling. "Well that certainly _is_ an interesting piece of news Naruto. From the sounds of it, this young lady is an ice-user, is that correct?" Seeing Haku nod slowly, the Dark Dragoon nodded in turn. "Meru had some talent with ice as well. Despite being the Dragoon of Water, ice had been incorporated into some of her spells and attacks as well. So, I'm not really surprised by this turn of events. Although, are you sure you should be mentioning the Kyuubi in front of her?"

Haku chose this point to interject. "U-Um, firstly, I'd like to say it's a pleasure to finally meet you Rose-san. Naruto-kun has talked about you a lot and it sounds like you have been really good to him. For that, I am most glad. As for mentioning the Kyuubi, Naruto-kun took Zabuza-sama and me aside while on his mission and, figuring that it would come up at some point during our stay with you two, told us about the Kyuubi being locked away inside of him. If it helps put your mind at ease Rose-san, we do not hold any prejudice against him for being a Jinchuriki, and we most _certainly_ do not think of him as a monster of any kind. In fact…" Smirking, the ice-user looked at Naruto and gave his butt a quick squeeze, much to his embarrassment. "I found that he's pretty fun to tease."

Seeing this young woman do such a thing to Naruto right in front of her caused Rose's left eyebrow to twitch dangerously. "If you would, I would ask you to _please_ refrain from engaging in such acts with Naruto. I do not mind if you take an interest in him, but I would rather you not _act_ on these 'impulses' of yours. Now, I am going to finish my breakfast and then I will teach you about the Dragoons. I warn you, I am a _strict_ teacher and you will _not_ enjoy your training."

Naruto's and Haku's eyes widened as they both came to the same conclusion. _Holy crap, she seemed _jealous_ just then!_ Of course, Naruto's train of thought proceeded even further than this conclusion. _I fear for Haku-chan now. If Rose-chan _is_ jealous, just what kind of hell will she put poor Haku-chan through?!_

The only thing that seemed to _temporarily_ save Haku Yuki was the fact that the two men walked through the door right at the moment the Dragoon of Water was being dragged off for her 'lecture'. Eyes landing on Kakashi, Rose gained a dangerous glint in her eyes and walked up to him, temporarily releasing Haku. "You. Empty your pockets and any luggage you brought with you. If I see even _one_ of those books, I'm going to start breaking toes! If you've decided to try and bring a whole case full of them, I hope you're ready to lose your 'manhood'."

As Kakashi frantically tried to prove he wasn't going to do anything to get on Rose's bad side, well…anything to give her a reason to _destroy_ him, the other three stood together in the kitchen, Haku looking absolutely terrified and, oddly enough, for Naruto at least, _depressed_. "Are you okay Haku-chan? I'm sure she'll come to like you given a little time. Just relax, okay?"

Haku sighed at this and shook her head. "She doesn't want me to get any Naru-kun snuggle time. I was so looking forward to sneaking into your room at night and cuddling up against you too. It would be so much fun to see your reaction when you woke up."

Naruto and Zabuza both sweat dropped at this before slumping their shoulders. This was going to be a very strange and very trying time for them. If this strange, new family couldn't work past these odd differences with one another, how in the hell were they supposed to work together to fulfill whatever the heck their purpose was in this world?!

_**Two Months Later**_

Over the last couple of months, not only had Naruto, Haku, and Kakashi been trained vigorously in the ways of the Dragoon, but Rose had actually allowed certain things from the Water and Thunder Dragoons. The four Dragoons had actually sat down and had a discussion about teamwork and building trust, and Rose had eventually managed to give in and come to a decision regarding a few different things as a result of this discussion.

Firstly, Kakashi was allowed to keep _one_ of his books in his room to read as he'd like. However, he could _not_ read the book anywhere but in his own room. Second, the Violet Dragoon was allowed to take this one book and swap it for another from his stash at his old residence as he liked. Finally, Kakashi Hatake was _not_ to ask anymore stupid and/or perverse questions! After being questioned about some kind of dominatrix outfit and whether or not she possessed one, the silver-haired Dragoon nearly lost a leg. Needless to say: lesson **learned**!

As for Haku, seeing as how she just would _not_ stop her flirtatious behavior with Naruto, Rose had decided to make a compromise of sorts. The Dark Dragoon would allow **one** date a month for Haku and Naruto, but they were _not_ to do more than hold hands, talk, hug, and perhaps kiss each other on the cheek. At least not until Rose deemed it was okay to do otherwise. In the house, Haku was to _behave_ and not get all touchy-feely with the blonde Dragoon. This wasn't much of a compromise for the Blue-Sea Dragoon, but she really couldn't do much about it until Rose started coming around to the idea of 'sharing' Naruto.

Naruto, on the other hand, seemed completely confused by this whole situation. He wasn't exactly sure _how_ he felt about Haku, but he was certain of one thing: he _definitely_ had feelings for Rose. After spending four years together, how could he _not_ have developed such strong feelings for the woman that had helped him through so much?

Finally, after a week in Konoha, Haku had been placed on Team 7 with Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sasuke. This was done in an attempt to keep the three ninja Dragoons together. They needed to look after one another _and_ keep an eye out for the other Dragoons as well. Well, there was that, and the fact that Haku and Zabuza practically _insisted_ on it to the point Hiruzen Sarutobi was starting to go insane.

Despite the added power to Team 7, the Sandaime had informed the four of them that there might be some extra challenges presented to them as a four-person team in the coming Chunin Exams. Regardless of this warning, Team 7, their jonin sensei, Zabuza, Rose, and others were quite confident in their ability to overcome any challenge presented to them.

Currently, Naruto was out on his date for the month with Haku. They had already received the news from the jonin sensei of Team 7 that they had been signed up for the Chunin Exams that started the next day, and had decided that today was the perfect day for their date. As he walked with the young woman, Naruto Uzumaki had to admit that he found his friend to be _very_ attractive, and that he got along very well with her, despite all her teasing and playful behavior. Frowning, he stopped and gently grasped the ice-user's hands after turning her to face him. "Haku-chan, can we talk for a minute?"

Haku frowned at this, worried about what he might say, but nodded anyways. Upon seeing this, the blonde Dragoon began to speak. "First, I want to admit that I do have something of a crush on you Haku-chan, so don't feel upset okay?" Seeing her smile, the blonde gently began to run his thumbs in circles on the backs of her hands. "But, I'm confused. So, please just hear me out?"

"Naruto-kun, I'll listen to anything you have to say. You know I care about you, and I always enjoy spending time with you, even if Rose doesn't really let us _do_ much of anything." Grumbling under her breath, Haku soon heard Naruto laughing lightly at that. Pouting cutely, she looked into his eyes and kissed his forehead. "It's not funny Naru-kun. She's so controlling!"

Chuckling a little more at that, the Uzumaki nodded slowly. "That she is. But Rose-chan is also what I want to talk about." Seeing that he now had her full attention, Naruto nodded again. "I've lived with Rose-chan for four years and…well…I have to admit that I have deep feelings for her. I don't think she feels anything like that for me, and I know there's quite the, erm…_age difference_, but…I can't help how I feel. This is why I'm so very confused. I care about both of you, and I do enjoy spending time with you as well Haku-chan. I'm just…unsure of what I'm supposed to do."

Haku Yuki nodded slowly, but she smiled, understanding his pain. "It's okay Naru-kun. I figured you loved her. It's honestly alright." Sighing, the young woman gently squeezed his hands. "There is something known as the CRA that you can ask about with Hokage-sama if you really wanted to." Seeing the young man's confusion, Haku decided to elaborate. "The CRA, or Clan Restoration Act, is something used when a clan is in danger of, well, going 'extinct'. It can also be used to create more users of a certain kekkei genkai if the 'need arises'." Sighing at that, the Blue-Sea Dragoon shook her head. "As you are the son of you-know-who and a member of a near extinct clan, the Uzumaki's, you would most certainly 'qualify' for the CRA. In essence, this means you would be able to take on multiple lovers or wives. Of course, this is only if you wanted to participate in such a thing."

Looking carefully into Naruto's eyes, the black-haired young woman smiled softly at him. "Before that, however, I think you need to take some time to sort out your feelings. Decide on what _you_ truly want. You also need to try and figure out how Rose feels about you. As you said, there is the issue with the age difference, but love can conquer that particular problem if she feels anything more for you than the bond of a mother and her child, or perhaps a sibling-like relationship, or _whatever_ it is she might be feeling if it's not romantic love." Sighing again as Haku thought of something, she decided to throw in one more tidbit of information. "Of course, if you _do_ go the CRA route, we'll have to figure out what to do about Rose-san. If you want to be with the both of us, she's going to need to come around and understand how this new world works. Or, at the very least, _respect_ you and your feelings. A person can't really fight how they feel about something or someone, after all."

The young blonde Dragoon nodded and smiled at Haku before kissing her cheek. "Thank you Haku-chan. Not just for saying that, but for being so understanding and respectful of me. You're really sweet to me, and I can't help but like you more for that. But you're right, I _do_ need to talk with Rose-chan and figure out how she _really_ feels about me. If it turns out that I really don't have a chance with her, I won't pursue her due to my selfish desires. I don't want to ruin the friendship she and I share just because I can't take 'No!' for an answer." Sighing, the blonde ran his fingers through his hair and shrugged. "I think I'd probably need some time to recover though, depending on how she was to react…"

Haku chuckled softly at that, but as she went to speak, the two of them heard a commotion from a nearby alley. Curious, they rushed around the corner and frowned at what they saw. Konohamaru was dangling in the air as he fought against the grip some black-clad young man had him in. Near the entrance of the alley nearest the Dragoons was Konohamaru's 'teammates' as they were.

Frowning, the two Dragoons stepped forward with Naruto speaking up to get the assailant's attention. "Put the boy down _now_ and I'll let you leave in peace. If you insist on hurting the Sandaime's grandson, however, you _will_ regret your decision." Taking his lance off of his back, the blonde twirled it around a moment before pointing it in the direction of the black-clad ninja.

As the odd ninja was berated by his female teammate, the two Dragoons couldn't help but notice their teammates and somebody else in a nearby tree. Shrugging it off, the Jade Dragoon quickly moved forward behind the black-clad ninja and slammed his lance into his back, forcing him to drop the Sandaime's grandson. As this happened, Haku collected Konohamaru and put the boy behind her for his own protection.

When the black-clad ninja, known as Kankuro after the kunoichi berated him for picking on the Sandaime's grandson, attempted to rise and retaliate, Naruto pressed the sharp end of his spear against the young man's neck. "You'll stay right there if you know what's good for you _Kankuro_. Besides, I think that guy over there's in a bad mood. He a friend of yours?"

As the two Suna ninja looked up, they froze and began to sweat nervously. Sure enough, the redhead that had been watching the events unfold was their teammate, and he did _not_ look happy. When the boy disappeared in a Suna-Shunshin (Sand Body-Flicker Technique) and reappeared next to the three, Naruto removed his lance and tapped it against the ground as he turned to face the boy. "Hey there, good to meet ya. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and you are?"

The redhead looked into the blonde's eyes for a moment before looking to his teammates. "Kankuro, Temari, stop causing problems. Do you _want_ me to kill the two of you?" As they went to speak, Gaara turned his attention back to Naruto and looked him in the eyes. "My name is Gaara. I look forward to seeing what you can do, Naruto Uzumaki. Prove your worth to me before we meet in combat. I don't want to kill a weakling." And with that, Gaara turned and left, his teammates following after him shortly after.

Blinking at that, Naruto turned around to look at his date. With a shrug of his shoulders, he walked over to her. "Well that sure was weird. I sure got some bad vibes from that guy, but that doesn't matter right now. Are you three okay?" The Jade Dragoon asked as he looked down at the three children. Seeing them nod and listening idly as they sang his praises and thanked him over and over again, the blonde turned his attention to Haku. "We have one more stop before we need to head home, right?"

Haku smirked and nodded slowly. "I'm glad you remembered Naru-kun. Let's go take care of that and get home. We're going to need to get plenty of rest tonight so we're ready for the Exams tomorrow." As the two waved good-bye to the three kids and walked off, Haku linked her arm with Naruto's and smiled as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm sure we'll be just fine Naru-kun."

_**Later that Night – Uzumaki-Namikaze Estate**_

Naruto had arrived home with Haku a couple of hours ago and had waited patiently for everyone to go to sleep. Rose had sensed that the young blonde had wanted to speak with her alone, so she had remained awake and took care of dishes and other menial chores until the others had gone to their individual rooms to get what rest they could.

Sitting beside the Jade Dragoon, Rose took a sip of water and looked into his eyes. "Naruto, are you okay? You look like you're almost _afraid_ of something. Is there something you need to talk with me about?"

The blonde Dragoon chuckled nervously at that and nodded his head slowly. "It's…something I talked about with Haku-chan today. She convinced me that I really needed to talk to you and figure something out. I know that if I don't do this now, I'll just end up distracted by these thoughts and feelings tomorrow and it'll just screw me up and ruin my concentration. So…" Naruto looked into Rose's eyes at this point and found himself blushing slightly as he stared into her dark blue eyes. "Rose-chan, we really do need to talk about this. H-How…do you feel about me Rose-chan?"

**A/N: Okey dokey, leaving you at a mean cliffhanger. I honestly couldn't resist pulling this one. lol. As you can also see, Haku is a female in this fic, and some of the characters might have little quirks that might seem a little unusual. *shrugs***

**I do hope this chapter is alright. Been working my ass off trying to get things packed, get stuff moved into storage, etc. etc. It's been so hot lately that it has only made me feel that much more exhausted. I could go on and on, but the message should be pretty clear: I haven't been able to think very well from exhaustion, the heat, etc. On top of that, personal/family issues have been pissing me off, soooo...yeaaaaah. I really hope this chapter is to your liking.**

**Finally, I want to let you know that, thanks to Dragon and Sword Master's insistence and suggestion, that I am putting up some information on my profile for both this story and The Legend of Naruto regarding new Additions and the current Dragoon Levels of each character. *nods* I will _try_ to update this information after every chapter, sooo...check often? lol.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Rose's Feelings, Chunin Exams, & the Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit**

At her fellow Dragoon's question, Rose's eyes widened and she almost dropped her glass of water. As she slowly regained her composure, the dark-eyed woman thought over what her companion had just asked. _How do I feel about him? That's actually a good question. How _do_ I feel about Naruto? I obviously _care_ about him, but what are my _true_ feelings? I…_ Sighing, Rose shook her head and looked calmly into the blonde Dragoon's eyes. "I…don't know Naruto."

Naruto nodded slowly and looked down at his hands. "Yeah, I kinda figured you didn't feel the same way Rose-chan. I…I've known for a couple of years now _exactly_ how I feel towards you, though." Looking into his companion's eyes, the blonde Dragoon smiled sadly at her. "I've been in love with you for a while now Rose-chan. Even though I knew that there was an overwhelming probability that you'd never feel the same way towards me, I couldn't help myself. I _still_ can't stop how I feel. Heh…"

Shaking his head, Naruto leaned back into the couch and sighed. "I know you still love your old fiancé, Zieg. I also know that you probably can't feel anything towards me because of our age difference. Before you jump to conclusions, that is _not_ an insult to your age or anything, I'm just saying that's…ugh." Ruffling his hair in frustration, the blonde closed his eyes and groaned. "You could never feel that same kind of love for me. I don't even _want_ to try and be a replacement for Zieg. I know you will always love him, I just…kinda wish you'd love me too. Know what I mean?"

As Naruto degenerated into a nervous wreck, an amused smile just continued to grow on Rose's face. Eventually, it became too much for her and she began laughing, unable to control herself any longer. At the look her blonde friend gave her at this point, the Dark Dragoon just about lost it. "W-What's so funny? I'm being serious here…" _Kami, even her laughter is beautiful…_

Rose managed to calm herself and looked calmly into Naruto's eyes. Without a word, she moved in close and captured her fellow Dragoon's lips with hers. It wasn't a long kiss, but they could both feel a sense of passion from it. Separating from Naruto, the Dark Dragoon smirked down at him and had to take amusement in his flabbergasted expression. "Naruto, you didn't let me finish. You just jumped to conclusions. I've warned you against that, haven't I?"

Naruto nodded slowly, but didn't say a word. Instead, he decided to let Rose speak. "Just because I don't know exactly _how_ I feel doesn't mean that I don't have feelings for you. I've just never thought about it before. As for Zieg…" At this point, the Dark Dragoon leaned in and gave Naruto a much longer, more passionate kiss before pulling back and speaking again. "I've had a very long time to get over him. I'll always love him, but that doesn't mean I can't move on and find happiness with another."

Looking calmly into the blonde's beautiful blue eyes, Rose smiled softly at him. "I also realize that there's an age difference between us, but I've always treated you as an equal, haven't I? I've never once treated you like a child Naruto. I also understand that, in this new world, apparently when you become a ninja, you're considered an adult? It's an odd concept, but it's not unusual. Back in the world I used to know, the one I got to see grow and evolve, boys as young as thirteen years-old could join the ranks of the knights of their kingdom, and were considered adults once they attained full knighthood. In times of war, boys strong enough to wield a sword could be drafted if the need ever arose. So, it's not really unusual to me if you stop to think about it."

The young blonde blinked a couple of times, but decided to voice his question. "Umm, Rose-chan? What were you trying to say before? You started rambling. It…almost sounds like you're feeling kind of nervous too…"

Rose sighed and bonked her friend over the head. "Shut it. The point I'm trying to make is this: even if there is a, erm…_large_ age difference between us, one that you certainly don't seem to mind, which is something I'm glad for by the way…" Catching herself before she started to ramble on again, the Dark Dragoon coughed into her hand and nodded, slowly getting her thoughts together as she started to speak once again. "I don't care about the age difference Naruto. Besides, if two people love one another, why should you allow anything to get in the way of that? Age? Gender? It doesn't matter what the differences are, you should be happy to find such a love and pursue it."

At the look Naruto was giving her, Rose grumbled and pinched his ear. "Stop giving me that look. I'm rambling again, I know. Just…not used to having to talk about my feelings. Forgive me for that you nosey brat." Listening to the blonde chuckle, Rose smiled and flicked him in the nose after releasing his ear. "As I was saying before: I don't know exactly _how_ I feel about you Naruto. I do know this, however: I care for you a lot. And…I wasn't going to act on any feelings it turns out that I _do_ have, namely because you deserve someone better, don't you think?"

The Jade Dragoon quirked a brow at this and looked into his love's face with disbelief. "Are you kidding me Rose-chan? There is _no one_ better than you! You're the one I love most in this world. I don't care if there's someone closer to my age that you might think is better for me, I know how I feel and that will _never_ change. So, if you're afraid of trying out a relationship with me because you think you're not good enough, well…" Giving Rose a quick kiss on her lips, Naruto pulled back a bit and smirked at her. "You're just being stupid."

Rose blushed a crimson red at this point, but nodded slowly and let a content smile worm its way onto her face. Forcing herself to take a deep breath and released it slowly, the beautiful dark-haired woman closed her eyes and smiled. "Perhaps I am being a tad stupid?" With a shrug of her shoulders, the dark blue-eyed woman hugged Naruto close and closed her eyes as she began running her fingers through his blonde hair. "If you really feel that strongly for me, then I'll make you a deal. Okay Naruto?"

Seeing the boy before her nod quickly, the Dark Dragoon grinned a little more. "Give me a little more time to sort out my feelings for you, okay Naruto? I'll admit that I _do_ like you, probably a lot more than I should. But, I'm not used to this kind of thing. I need to think about this for a little while. So, here's my proposal for you, Naruto." Looking the blonde square in the eyes, the beautiful woman nodded and kissed his forehead. "Work your way through these Chunin Exams. When you have the time, whether you end up with some kind of a break or we don't get to see each other for a month, it doesn't matter, I want you to come talk to me again. Do your very best in these Exams, do me proud, and you might receive the answer you're hoping for."

Naruto brightened considerably, but he was also left feeling rather confused. _She's either testing me, teasing me, or both. Either way…_ "I'm definitely going to give it my all and become a Chunin, dattebayo! I'm going to do it for you Rose-chan. I want to make you proud of me, and I'm more eager than ever to participate if it means I might get to hear a positive answer to my question!" Chuckling at that, he looked into Rose's eyes and winked, causing her to chuckle as well.

After this, the two stayed up for a couple hours longer, just enjoying the time spent together, talking with one another, and discussing a variety of things, the most prominent of which being the Chunin Exams that were to begin the next day. As they talked, however, it seemed that neither of them noticed the young woman hiding in the dark at the top of the stairs, listening to their prior conversation. _It sure sounds to me like she's crazy about you too Naru-kun. Good for you. Now if only I could somehow work my way into your heart a little more and get Rose-san to agree to share, I'd have it made…_ With a shrug, Haku returned to bed, deciding it best to leave the two alone for now. Besides, she would need her sleep for the Exams tomorrow!

_**The Next Day – Academy**_

Team 7 currently stood before the academy building, each of the four feeling something different. Sasuke felt irritation at how giddy his blonde teammate was acting and let him know about just how irritating it was whenever the blonde decided to start rambling on about how excited and happy he was. Shikamaru simply muttered the word, "Troublesome." a few times as he thought about what the day would bring. After all, these were the Chunin Exams and none of them were sure just _what_ they could expect from them!

Haku was watching Naruto with a smile, glad that he was so enthusiastic about the Exams. Of course, she knew one of the main reasons as to _why_ he was so excited, but she wasn't about to tell him that she eavesdropped on his conversation with Rose last night! Instead, she chose to simply smile and held his hand, glad to just be in his company at the moment.

Finally, Naruto Uzumaki was, as his teammates could tell, _very_ excited to begin! After his conversation with Rose, the blonde had a hard time getting to sleep, but he eventually did and ended up getting five hours of rest. It was far better than zero hours, and he didn't feel tired at all. Instead, as he remembered his time spent with Rose last night and their first few kisses shared, he felt _incredibly_ refreshed and energized!

Still, there was also another thing on the young blonde Dragoon's mind. Thinking back to before he left his home earlier this morning, Naruto remembered another conversation he had with Rose, this one regarding the Dragoon Spirits and the Chunin Exams…

_**Flashback**_

_"Rose-chan, I _know_ how dangerous and risky this plan is, but please! You trusted me on my missions out of the village before, and I managed to find two other Dragoons. Please trust me this time too!" Naruto pleaded, desperately trying to get Rose to understand why he wanted to try this new plan out._

_ The Dark Dragoon tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. Sighing as she listened to the Jade Dragoon's pleas, the woman brushed a hand through her hair and sighed again. "I understand that there very well could be more Dragoons participating in these Chunin Exams, Naruto. However, the issue is that they are being held here in _Konohagakure_! What if those assholes from four years ago try to steal the Dragoon Spirits from you when you're by yourself in these Exams?!"_

_ The young Dragoon frowned at this, but nodded his head slowly. "As I said, I understand the risks involved, but there's something you're forgetting. I _won't_ be alone. We may just be a group of Genin and two inexperienced Dragoons, but we're still a team. Danzo's ROOT took us by surprise last time. If they try anything this time, if _anybody_ tries anything this time, I'll be expecting it and I _will_ defend the Dragoon Spirits even if it costs me my life to do so! Please Rose-chan; trust in me to keep them safe. I have a feeling that there might be another Dragoon, maybe even _two or more_ in these Exams somewhere! I won't know for sure unless I have the Spirits with me, though, so you _have_ to trust me."_

_ The dark-eyed woman sighed, but finally relented with a nod. "Alright then Naruto. Think of this as your first 'trial' then." Seeing he understood what she meant by this, the Dark Dragoon grinned. "Keep these Dragoon Spirits safe at all costs. Do not even let your teammates touch these, not even _Haku_. I trust her, do not get me wrong, but I want _you_ to handle this responsibility Naruto. More importantly, if you can find at least one more Dragoon before you get to speak with me again, it may help sway my 'judgment' in your favor."_

_ Naruto chuckled at that and nodded as he took the bag of Dragoon Spirits and tied it to his belt. "I understand Rose-chan, and I will _not_ disappoint. It's an evil game you're playing with me, but I love you the way you are and I wouldn't have it any other way." Laughing together, Naruto soon kissed Rose on the cheek and dashed out the door to meet with his team…_

_**Present Time**_

Reaching down, Naruto patted the bag at his hip and smirked. "Alright guys, let's go in there and kick some ass!" Seeing the others nod in agreement, the team began making their way into the academy towards Room 301, as per their instructions. As they walked, the young Jade Dragoon couldn't help but glance down at the bag one more time. _Don't you worry Rose. I'll keep these safe, and I'll _find_ that Dragoon! I've got a damn good feeling that I'll find another one in these Exams. My questions are: who will it be, and which Dragoon Spirit will recognize them? I'm excited just thinking about it!_

Upon reaching the second floor, Team 7 stopped and stared at a surprisingly large crowd hanging around what _looked_ to be Room 301, but in reality, _wasn't_ the room they needed to go to. Quirking a brow, the Jade Dragoon leaned close to his teammates and whispered. "Hey, isn't that a genjutsu? It seems like a pretty obvious one to me…"

Shikamaru and Haku nodded and were about to suggest that they just move on. However, before either of them could say anything, Sasuke was walking through the crowd towards the front and mocking those responsible for the genjutsu and those that happened to fall for it as well. Sighing to themselves, the other three members of Team 7 all muttered the same word as one: "Troublesome." Sighing to themselves once more, Shikamaru went to try and stop Sasuke before he did anything stupid… _Wait…he's already _done_ something stupid. Maybe I should just stop him from trying to pick any fights? No…wait…he's doing that too. Augh, he is such a troublesome teammate!_ Deciding it best to just try and drag the Uchiha away from the crowd, the Nara pushed through the crowd in order to reach his teammate.

Meanwhile, the Dragoon members of Team 7 walked over to the green clad genin that had been knocked through the crowd some time ago. Kneeling down, Naruto helped the boy up and smiled at him. "Heya there. You look a heck of a lot like Guy-sensei. Are you his son or something?"

The bushy-browed boy looked into the blonde Dragoon's eyes and grinned. "I am not Guy-sensei's son, but I do highly admire him! Not only is he my wonderful sensei, but he's also my very best friend." Looking down at this point, the young man nodded his head and smiled sadly to himself. "Guy-sensei has helped me so much. I never want to let him down. But, I have not yet introduced myself!" Giving Naruto and Haku his best 'Nice Guy Pose', they could practically see his teeth sparkling in the light. "My name is Rock Lee! It's great to meet the two of you!"

Naruto Uzumaki chuckled and gently shook Lee's hand while Haku looked a little creeped out by this strange boy. "It's good to meet you Lee-san. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and my teammate here is named Haku Yuki." Leaning in closer, the blonde whispered to his new friend. "As a student of Guy-sensei's, you do realize that's a genjutsu, right?"

Lee nodded calmly and looked towards the crowd, who sounded like they wanted to kill somebody, probably Sasuke or the two who set up the genjutsu in the first place. "Of course Naruto-kun. I simply wanted to see what some of our competition was like." With a shrug, he looked back into Naruto's eyes. "I'm curious about something though Naruto-kun. You sound as if you know Guy-sensei really well. How do you know him?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "Guy-sensei trained me in taijutsu. He can be one seriously tough sensei. I'm sure as his full-time genin student, you know that better than I could ever realize. Still, I'm very grateful to him for helping me so much. I like Guy-sensei too Lee-san. He's a good guy."

As Lee nodded, about to agree with Naruto completely, they noticed two things. First, Shikamaru came through the crowd with an entrapped Sasuke walking behind him, yelling at Shikamaru to let him go. Second, Lee's teammates were approaching and the guy, obviously a Hyuga judging from his eyes, did not look happy. "Uhhh, it was nice meeting you Lee-san. We'd better catch up with our teammates, and it looks like you need to talk with yours. Good luck!"

Lee chuckled at that and nodded, saying good-bye to his friends as they left. As he turned back to face his two teammates, the green-clad boy smiled. _I'm looking forward to challenging you Naruto-kun. A fellow pupil of Guy-sensei's would make for a most youthful opponent!_

_**Room 301 – Moments later**_

Upon entering the _correct_ room, the group of four looked around at all their competition in the room. A lot of them were trying to intimidate the group with some weak killing intent, but Team 7 ignored it. Instead, while his teammates were doing other things in response, the blonde looked down at the bag attached to his hip and opened it up just slightly. _No reaction yet. I'll check again when the exam starts, there's too much going on right now and it would just look weird to pull out these Spirits and walk up to my competition checking to see if the Spirits react to anyone or not._ With a shrug, Naruto resealed the bag and looked around as the other Rookies began walking up to them.

Haku found herself blinking in confusion as two girls, a pinkette and a platinum blonde, both latched themselves onto her Uchiha teammate and began swooning over him. Looking to Naruto and Shikamaru, she saw the two of them sigh and mutter the Nara's favorite word, "Troublesome." once more. "Umm, am I missing something here?"

Naruto nodded slowly and stepped back away from the group along with Shikamaru, Choji, and Haku. Choji and Shikamaru entered into their own little conversation, while the blonde began explaining things to his friend. "Those two have been the teme's fan girls for a long time now. No idea why, but they're really attracted to him for some reason. Shika and I thought for _sure_ that, after neither of them got to be on a team with their precious 'Sasuke' that their sensei would end up fixing that problem somehow. Looks like it's still a 'work in progress'."

Seeing her fellow Dragoon sigh at that, the Blue-Sea Dragoon hugged her sort-of-boyfriend close. "Just ignore them then. That other girl doesn't seem to be all crazy about our resident Uchiha. In fact, she looks _much_ happier to see you here. What's up with that?"

Glancing at the girl in question, the Jade Dragoon smiled and nodded his head. "That's Hinata Hyuga. She and I became pretty good friends in the academy after I helped her out with some of her problems. Her clan is always putting her down for her lack of confidence, _especially_ her father. Then there's her little sister, who kind of treats her like shit too. I think it's more to do with her father's behavior influencing her than anything else. Hanabi-chan _is _still young after all."

With a shrug, Naruto tilted his head back and smiled. "Basically, I trained with Hinata and worked hard to build up her confidence. It worked out pretty well, but only when around others. She still has a hard time with her family." Sighing at that, the Jade Dragoon shook his head. "I also stopped some jerks from beating up on her just because she's from a prominent clan in the village. Nothing major, but we really developed a damn good friendship after I helped her. Though, if I had to guess, I'd say she developed something of a crush on me. Too bad I just don't feel that way about her though. She's a great person and a wonderful friend, but…yeah. You know who I love. Uhh…again, I do have feelings for you as well Haku-chan, I'm just, y'know…saying…I guess…"

The ice-using genin started to giggle loudly at this. Soon enough, she turned Naruto to face her again and planted a quick, sweet kiss on his lips to quiet him. "You really need to stop worrying so much about that. I'm an open woman Sweetie. You already know that, and yet you still worry so much about my feelings. I _know_ how you feel for Rose-san already, and I know you care about me as well. So relax, take a deep breath, and let's just have fun, okay? We're going to kick some real butt in this competition, I'm sure of it!"

Naruto smiled brightly at that, but this quickly turned into a frown as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A group of genin wearing hitai-ate that signified they were from Otogakure had attacked a glasses-wearing genin that had apparently been speaking with the other Rookies. While the four that had separated from the group didn't know where the hell this 'Otogakure' was, they _did_ notice the trick the gauntlet-wearing genin had performed with said gauntlet. Looking between one another, Shikamaru, Choji, Haku, and Naruto all nodded and began to quietly speak with each other. "Okay, looks like they are able to employ sound waves into their attacks. We're going to need to be careful if we end up having to fight those jerks."

Before they could say much more, however, a bunch of chunin and a tokubetsu jonin appeared in the room. They listened as the scarred tokubetsu jonin shouted at the Oto genin before going into a brief explanation about what they had to do first. So, doing as instructed, everyone got a number assigned to them and took their seats.

As the genin filed into their seats, the Jade Dragoon glanced around at his teammates, noticing that not a one of them was placed near him. _Separating the teams so they can't help each other. Well that makes sense I guess. Kinda depends on the rules of this first test, though._ Shrugging, Naruto took a glance at those who were sitting near him on both sides. On his left was a pretty kunoichi from Iwagakure who kept shooting him the occasional glare, though the Dragoon didn't know why she kept glaring his way. Shrugging, he turned to his right and smiled at Hinata. Whispering to her so he wouldn't interrupt the proctor, and so they could still hear the instructions, he gave her some words of encouragement. "Good luck Hinata-chan. Everything'll be fine, dattebayo."

Seeing her giggle quietly at that and smile in thanks, Naruto waited until she turned forward once again to glance down at his small bag of Dragoon Spirits. The tests were placed face down in front of everyone, and because the exam had yet to officially begin, the blonde Dragoon slowly opened the bag just enough to peer inside. Upon seeing not just one, but _two_ of the Dragoon Spirits shining inside, Naruto grinned to himself. _Awesome, dattebayo! I can't just pull these out right here though. I just have to hope I can find them later. Kami I hope I can find them later…_

Hinata clearly noticed this action and, at the grin on Naruto's face, she was about to ask him what he had in the bag that had him so excited. However, before the Hyuga heiress could, the test began. So, as everyone flipped their test papers over, she cast one last glance her crush's way and decided she would try to ask him about it later if she got the chance.

As the test began, the blonde Dragoon immediately realized that he'd only be able to answer a few of the questions asked. Frowning at this, Naruto Uzumaki thought over the rules and what he had heard. It didn't take long for him to come to the same realization many others in the room had already reached. _They _want_ us to cheat! Fun stuff, dattebayo!_

The Dragoon took a few sneaky glances throughout the room, trying to pinpoint the perfect person to cheat off of. It didn't take him long to realize that there were chunin planted throughout the room, disguised as genin taking the test. _Now to figure out how to cheat off of one of 'em. Hmm…_ After taking a few minutes to think on it, the Uzumaki finally thought of something. _That might do the trick!_

Naruto took a calm, steady breath and chose one of the planted chunin to copy off of. Quickly focusing his mind, the young genin decided he would try his own variation on a spell Rose had used in the past: Death Dimension. Using what little of his magic power he could tap into without transforming, Naruto created a small 'window' of sorts _through_ the chunin! As the poor guy began to freak out, clearly not sure what the hell was going on, the blonde snickered to himself quietly and quickly jotted down all the answers before his spell faded.

When it was over and the chunin was whole again, the Jade Dragoon smirked to himself and nodded, satisfied with his work. _And that's that. I'm glad Rose helped me work on that one. I didn't want to actually cause harm to anyone with that kind of spell, but I figured it would come in handy somewhere down the line. Didn't know I'd be able to use it here. But damn, casting a little magic spell outside of my Dragoon form really wore me out. I'm going to take a nap!_ With a quick shrug, Naruto flipped his test over to prevent anyone from cheating off of him and laid his head down, quickly falling into a peaceful slumber.

_**End of the Exam**_

Naruto awoke with a start as he heard Hinata whisper into his ear. Blinking his eyes, the young Dragoon tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes and looked around to see where he was. As it all came back to him, he looked to the front and saw the proctor smirking at him. "Heh, sorry about that. I guess I didn't get enough sleep?"

With a shrug, Ibiki Morino simply proceeded to go on to explain the rules for the final question. Many teams quit at this point, too afraid to go on. At one point, it looked like Hinata was considering quitting, but Naruto took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, reassuring her that it would all be okay if she just stuck this through, that she _had_ to see this through to the end. Smiling in appreciation at this act, the Hyuga heiress gave a squeeze back in an effort to show her thanks.

Once it appeared everyone that was going to leave had left, the proctor announced that everyone that remained had passed. When someone screamed out in shock, yelling at the proctor in confusion, Naruto just sighed and facepalmed. Ibiki glanced his way, instantly noticing this reaction. Smirking at that, the proctor turned to the girl that shouted and nodded his head. "That gaki over there understands the purpose of the final question, but I'll explain it for those of you that are a little too slow to understand." And with that, the scarred man proceeded to explain the purpose of the entire test to the genin in the room.

As he did this, Hinata turned to Naruto and smiled brightly. "You knew, didn't you Naruto-kun?" Seeing him nod, she gave him a quick hug before blushing a bit and looking down at her hands. "Thank you for stopping me and giving me the courage to see this through. You're always helping me, and I feel like I've never done anything for you in return. If there's ever anything you need, p-please let me know Naruto-kun. I want to help you."

Naruto nodded and thanked Hinata for saying that, but also assured her that she didn't need to worry herself with such a thing. However, he was rather shocked by what she asked next. "Naruto-kun, what's in that bag? You looked in it earlier and smiled, so I was wondering."

The blonde chuckled a bit at that and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I _want_ to tell you Hinata-chan, I do, but…I can't." Seeing that she was about to ask why, he quickly continued. "Before you ask, it's not that I don't trust you. I do trust you, and I know I could trust you with my life, okay? But…what's in this bag is top secret and very, _very_ important. I can't speak of these to anyone except for a few people. I'm really, _really_ sorry Hinata-chan."

Hinata smiled at that and nodded her head in understanding. However, before she could say anything, something burst through one of the windows. Soon enough, a strange banner could be seen in the place where Naruto had last seen Ibiki standing. "Umm…Hinata-chan? You have any idea who this 'Anko Mitarashi' is?"

At this point, as Hinata was shaking her head in the negative, the very woman in question appeared in the room and grinned at everybody. "That'd be me gaki! The sexy and single Anko Mitarashi at your service! But more importantly, I'm the proctor for the second exam. Sooo, follow me!"

As she was about to leave, Ibiki stepped around the banner and smirked at his fellow proctor. "You're a bit early Anko. But, that doesn't matter. I hope you enjoy trying to root out the weaklings from those with potential."

At this, the busty woman looked around at all the genin in the room, truly taking into account just how many were still left. "Wait, there's still quite a few teams left Ibiki. You losing your touch, you old man you?"

Shaking his head at his fellow specialist's behavior, the first proctor turned to look at the genin. "I think you'd be surprised Anko. We've got a good crop this year. Good luck." And with that, he began collecting the test papers.

After Anko shrugged her shoulders and announced where the next stage of the Exams was to be held, she disappeared through the same window she had burst in through. Once she was gone, Naruto rose from his chair and watched as numerous teams began to file out to make their way to the location of the next exam. Making a quiet noise in frustration, the young blonde patted the bag of Dragoon Spirits at his side and decided he would just have to hope he could find the two new Dragoons in the next stage.

_**Training Ground #44 – Moments Later**_

After arriving at the site of the next stage, Naruto slowly opened his bag and noticed the same two Dragoon Spirits shining brightly, just as before. Realizing that this meant those same Dragoons were still nearby, he smiled and sealed the bag again, gently patting it. _Good, now if only I could find some way to figure out exactly who they are, I'd have it made. I don't even know what village they're from or what gender they are. This could be difficult…_

As Anko Mitarashi began going over the rules of the exam, Naruto stepped away from Sasuke and Shikamaru to speak with Haku in private. "Haku-chan, there are two Dragoons here. I'm not sure who they are, but two of the Spirits keep shining. They have been ever since the first stage. When we enter the forest, if we stumble across any potential Dragoons, regardless of whether or not they happen to be enemies, we _need_ to check them. Think you can help me subdue them if need be?"

Haku nodded and agreed to help Naruto no matter what. Before she could say much more, however, a kunai came flying at her blonde teammate. Reaching up, the blonde Dragoon caught the kunai between two of his fingers and looked over his shoulder at Anko. "Heya there Anko-san. I think you lost a little something. Might want to watch where you're throwing these things, it could get _dangerous_."

The proctor smirked and took her kunai back. "So it would seem gaki. Still, you'd be wise to pay attention to the rules. Especially since there's a little something extra your team will have to do to pass this stage of the Exams. After all, there are four of you and only three people on every other team participating. Now, do pay attention, will you Blondie?"

Leaning in and kissing his whiskered cheek, winking at him afterwards, the Snake Mistress of Konoha returned to her previous position and began explaining the rules regarding the scrolls. When it came time for the special rule regarding Team 7, the four of them paid close attention. "As for you four, rather than receiving an Earth or a Heaven scroll, you will be given this Fire scroll. Your goal will be to collect both an Earth and a Heaven scroll from opposing teams within the Forest of Death. When you reach the tower in the center of the forest, you will have to lay out all three scrolls rather than just the two the other teams are required to have. Is this understood?" Seeing the members of Team 7 nod, Anko grinned and went into the tent to allow the teams to prepare and file in one team at a time to receive their scrolls and hand over their waivers.

_**An hour later – inside the Forest of Death**_

Team 7 had already encountered a team from Takigakure and quickly won their Earth scroll, leaving only a Heaven scroll left to collect. It seemed as if everything was going rather well, but the Dragoons had a sense of foreboding, almost as if something truly evil was coming their way. Sure enough, when all went quiet in the surrounding area, they could all feel a powerful, _dark_ presence coming closer and closer.

When a powerful wind came blowing through the area, Naruto quickly began spinning his lance, fending off as much of the wind as he could while his teammates did their best to hold their ground. The blonde was pushed back up against a nearby tree, but he managed to remain in the area rather than being blown off deeper into the forest, away from his team. It didn't take long after that for the source of the powerful jutsu to make her appearance.

"Well, well. Just the people I wanted to see. Sasuke-kun, I'm so glad to finally meet you. And you, Naruto-kun, I have heard _so very much_ about you. I am quite interested in the power you possess and would like to test it for myself. I do not have that much time, however, as I am a very busy person. Still, I want to play for a while."

As the strange kunoichi stalked closer, Team 7 could feel an overwhelming presence crushing down on them, freezing them in place. It didn't take long for the two Dragoons to free themselves, having grown used to powerful intent from Rose during their time spent with her. However, Sasuke and Shikamaru seemed rooted to the spot. It appeared as if the Nara heir was having a difficult time just staying conscious, while Sasuke was sweating profusely and looked to be panicking. Naruto and Haku quickly saved their teammates and hid with them in two separate places a short distance from one another.

Sadly, as luck would have it, the clearly powerful kunoichi decided to go after Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. As his teammate still seemed pretty shaken up, Naruto had a Kage Bunshin carry him off while the real Naruto began attacking the woman with his lance. When she dodged everything he threw at her, the blonde took a deep breath and quickly began to unleash his first Addition: Leaf Hurricane.

Moving forward at a speed his opponent hadn't seen from him yet, Naruto swung his lance in an upwards arc, forcing his opponent to jump back. As this happened, the wind picked up in the area, picking up leaves and branches in the process. Zipping forward once more, Naruto swung his lance a few more times in quick diagonal arcs, his opponent once again trying to dodge, receiving only minor cuts in the process. Then, with one quick thrust forward with his weapon, the kunoichi was enveloped in a powerful, but small hurricane that began to shred her apart.

When the attack was finally over, Naruto watched as the leaves and branches fell to the ground and stared at his severely wounded opponent. However, what happened next caught everyone off guard and _greatly_ disturbed the lot of them. A man began to emerge from the woman's mouth, shedding the 'skin' like it was some kind of weird meat suit!

"Impressive Naruto-kun! I hadn't expected such a powerful attack from you! However, it's just not good enough to defeat the likes of me." Smirking quite evilly, the odd man stepped closer to Naruto and grinned wider. "Tell me, have you heard of me? I am Orochimaru, and I have been looking forward to meeting you Naruto-kun. After hearing all that I have heard about you, I have taken great interest in you. If you come with me, I can offer you such great power, more than you could possibly achieve in this village!"

Naruto Uzumaki scoffed at this offer and shook his head. "Sorry Freakazoid, no deal. I've got somebody very precious to me in this village and she's _definitely_ the strongest person I know. With her guidance, I _know_ I'll become stronger and stronger!" Taking his battle stance once more, the Jade Dragoon prepared to continue the fight, only to suddenly be constricted by a bunch of snakes that were shot from Orochimaru's hands, or were those his sleeves?!

As Orochimaru's neck began to extend towards Naruto, he began to struggle harder against the snakes, fearful of what was about to happen. Thankfully, Haku began to unleash her Addition, causing the Snake Sannin to freeze just long enough for Naruto to free himself and leap backwards, away from Team 7's powerful opponent. "Spear Hammer!"

Two small spears of ice formed next to Haku, and the young woman quickly dashed forward, using her superior speed to get behind Orochimaru before he could bite into her love's neck. Swinging her hammer upwards with as much force as she could muster, the ice-user sent Orochimaru flying high into the air. Leaping up after him, she slammed him in the side with her weapon and sent him hurtling towards her spears. Within an instant, these spears of ice shot forward and impaled him through his chest and shoulder, causing the Snake Sannin to scream out in pain as he collapsed to the ground immediately afterwards.

As the Snake Sannin pushed himself off of the ground and ripped the spears of ice from his body, he turned a glare on the ice-user, who had joined her precious boyfriend at his side, checking him over to see if he was okay. "I did not expect such a power from her either. It's too bad she's not one of those I'm interested in." Smirking to himself, the Snake Sannin began going through a series of hand seals, preparing to take the young woman out of the picture for the time being. There would be no point in killing her, as he wanted Naruto and Sasuke to pass this stage of the Exams so he could continue to observe them. All he wanted to do at the moment was injure her just enough to render her unconscious.

Before he could finish his last hand seal, however, Orochimaru suddenly found his body freezing up and taking a position similar to that of a monkey. "Ah yes, I nearly forgot about the Nara boy. I did not expect him to show any courage at all. It seems I will have to remedy that right now."

As the Sannin prepared to free himself from the technique, he suddenly heard Sasuke's voice, shouting out one of his jutsu. "**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!**" Cursing under his breath, Orochimaru quickly melted into the ground beneath him, disappearing from sight while the fireball floated harmlessly by, striking a log and burning it to cinders before it dissipated.

As Team 7 tried to regroup so they wouldn't be caught off guard, Orochimaru appeared behind Shikamaru and kicked him hard in the back, sending him flying into a tree a short distance away so hard that his left arm broke and he immediately lost consciousness. "That takes care of that annoying pest. Now for the Hyoton user…"

Hearing that, Haku prepared to transform, only to suddenly feel a powerful attack strike her in her side. Glancing down, she saw a burn in her side and suddenly collapsed to her knees, crying out in pain. When she was struck by another jutsu, this time a Raiton (Lightning Release) one, she fell unconscious, no longer able to withstand the overwhelming pain of the combined attacks. "And that takes care of the bitch."

Furious at this, the Jade Dragoon rose to his feet and summoned forth 25 Kage Bunshin. While five of them began to unleash Futon (Wind Release) techniques, the rest began to unleash simultaneous Leaf Hurricane Additions in the hopes of dealing enough damage to the Sannin to take him down. Sadly, their powerful opponent disappeared once again. Sensing the man appearing behind Sasuke, Naruto Uzumaki tried to rush to his teammate's aid, only to hear him scream out and see the man whispering something to the Uchiha. It also looked as if Orochimaru had slipped something into Sasuke's pocket, but the blonde Dragoon couldn't focus on that at the moment.

When Orochimaru came for him, the blonde quickly transformed and used his first spell: Wing Blaster. From what he had learned from Rose, this was a spell Lavitz and Albert used to use, and Naruto had grown quite accustomed to using it on his missions outside of the village. Thankfully, because the Snake Sannin was unfamiliar with the powers of a Dragoon, the spell hit its mark and caused the man's arm to begin hanging limply at his side.

Sadly, this only served to cause the Snake Sannin to begin laughing excitedly. "Good Naruto-kun, I was hoping you would show me this power. Now, allow me to bestow upon you a little 'gift' for playing along with me so _very_ well." As the Snake Sannin's neck extended, his head shooting forward, Naruto tried to bring up his lance in time to block his opponent, but failed. His opponent had been far too quick. Soon enough, he felt a searing pain in his body as the Snake Sannin delivered upon him his curse mark.

Naruto cringed in pain as he listened to the words Orochimaru spoke to him next. "You and Sasuke-kun will seek me out when you are ready to achieve _true_ power. I look so forward to working with the two of you." And with that, the powerful man cackled gleefully before disappearing.

Collapsing to his knees, clutching at his neck as it burned something fierce, he knew he had to stay conscious. If the Dragoon were to pass out as well, they'd be open to attack from an enemy team, perhaps even more than one. So, forcing himself to stand, the young Dragoon slowly collected his teammates and forced himself to fly through the forest until he found a rather excellent hiding spot: a hollow at the base of a tree.

Before he joined his unconscious teammates in the hollow, Naruto Uzumaki set up a series of complex traps, using his experience from his past as a prankster to make sure he and his teammates would be safe throughout the night, and until they had recovered as well. With this done, the blonde Dragoon slowly trudged his way into the hollow and collapsed beside Haku, quickly drifting into unconsciousness.

_**The Next Morning**_

Haku and Shikamaru both awoke within a few minutes of one another. Looking at their teammates, they both immediately noticed the same thing: a strange seal on both of their necks. Haku cursed under her breath and immediately began looking over her unconscious love. "That monster did this to them, didn't he?"

The Nara nodded slowly and rubbed his head. "I would say so. It looks like a seal of some sort, and, if I had to guess, I'd say it's probably a bad one if that guy placed it on them like this. Troublesome." Sighing heavily, he began examining both of his teammates and noticed something immediately. "The two of them are burning up. Can you conjure something up to help them Haku-san?"

The Water Dragoon quickly nodded and pulled out two cloths, immediately using a jutsu to create blocks of ice. Shattering them into tiny cubes, she formed makeshift icepacks and laid them atop her teammates' foreheads. "That's the best I can think of to do at the moment. Let's hope it helps."

Shikamaru nodded and shifted his eyes out of the hollow, trying to get Haku to look closely without giving anything away. In a low whisper, he began to speak. "Good, because we have company and can't do much else for the two of them right now. It looks like Naruto set up some traps, so those should buy us time to come up with something. If we're lucky, his traps will keep them at bay long enough for these two to wake up and help us out. You should prepare yourself for a fight though, just in case."

Haku nodded slowly and listened as somebody screamed. It sounded like a male, and they soon saw one of the Oto genin rushing out into the open right before an explosion occurred where he had been hiding with his team. Giggling quietly, the ice-user found herself enjoying this greatly. "You're right; Naruto-kun's traps should _definitely_ buy us some time."

Soon enough, the other two members of the Oto team were at their teammate's side, the both of them coughing and nursing fresh injuries. The spiky-haired one glared at the mummy-looking one and began to yell at him. "What the fuck was that Dosu?! That fucking squirrel came flying right at us!"

The one known as Dosu finally managed to stop coughing and glared into his teammate's eyes. "Shut up Zaku! Obviously we triggered some kind of trap. I didn't even see it!"

The female on the team frowned as she looked around the small clearing. "How many more traps do you think are hidden around here? They already know we're here, so we've lost the element of surprise. It will be a problem if we can't even get close enough to kill Sasuke like we were told."

Dosu shook his head and frowned as he glanced around the clearing. "I don't know Kin. If we just had more information on this team, this wouldn't be a problem. We're going to need to be cautious if we want to complete our mission…"

The one known as Zaku scoffed at that and pointed his hands straight at the hollow. "Forget that! These stupid traps can't stop us! **Zankūha (Decapitating Airwaves)!**" Both of his teammates had tried to stop him, but it was just too late. Soon enough, every single trap, or at least what they _thought_ was all the traps, activated.

Zaku's attack didn't even come close to the hollow. Instead, the spiky-haired member of the Oto genin was impaled with numerous wooden spears while his teammates were forced to dodge a hail of kunai, shuriken, senbon, and oddly enough, strange wind jutsu, or at least what they _thought_ was wind jutsu! When they landed, they turned to check on their teammate, only to see him coughing up blood. "Shit!" Dosu shouted as everyone watched the life leave Zaku's eyes. The traps had killed him within seconds.

Shikamaru and Haku both blinked in surprise at this strange turn of events. Zaku had triggered a large number of Naruto's traps, meaning that Dosu and Kin could likely access their position now and strike. However, the traps had also _killed_ a member of the Oto team. Glancing into each other's eyes, they both sweat dropped. "Umm, I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say Naruto was desperate to protect us."

Shikamaru nodded slowly before returning his attention to the Oto genin that remained. "I believe that would be a safe assumption. I didn't expect Naruto's prankster ways would pay off in such a way. It's a bit frightening to think about." Frowning at this point, the Nara rose to his feet and took a single step out of the hollow. "However, that guy triggered a _lot_ of traps. I think it's safe to say we're going to have to fight soon."

Haku nodded slowly and joined her teammate at his side. "I'm ready. I'm going to defend Naruto-kun no matter what it takes." At the look Shikamaru gave her, the Hyoton user smirked. "Hey, Sasuke's a jerk. Don't try to deny it. Besides, you know how I feel about Naru-kun."

The Nara heir chuckled and nodded. "You can be so troublesome sometimes. But yes, I know what you mean, and I know how you feel. Still, Sasuke is our teammate and we'd best protect him as well. Although, I'm not sure if all of Naruto's traps Zaku triggered. He could have trigged all of them, half; it's too hard to tell. This is such a troublesome situation we're in."

Dosu, meanwhile, nudged Kin in her arm and pointed straight at Shikamaru. "Kin, try throwing some of your senbon. We need to see if it's safe to proceed or not."

Kin turned a glare on her teammate and shook her head. "What the hell Dosu?! Are you trying to sacrifice me just so you can get away?!"

The mummy-like boy actually smacked his face at this and dragged his fingers down his face in frustration. "I doubt that there could be many traps left Kin. Besides, do you really want to fail our mission? If your senbon can get through, I'm hoping that means it's safe enough to get over there."

The Oto kunoichi bit her lip in frustration, but drew two handfuls of senbon and flung them towards the two standing before them. When she heard clicking and the obvious sound of traps being sprung, she cursed and tried to jump out of the way, only for both her and Dosu to be electrocuted from something underneath their feet.

As their opponents screamed out in pain and collapsed to their knees from whatever trap they had just sprung, Shikamaru and Haku both sweat dropped again. "I'm tempted to ask Naruto just how he created such deadly traps."

Haku chuckled nervously and shook her head. "I don't think I even _want_ to know. I'm just happy they work so well. But I have a feeling that was probably the last of them. Look." Pointing up into the trees, the two of them watched as arrows began raining down on Dosu and Kin, forcing them to leap away in separate directions to take cover from yet another deadly trap.

The Nara member of Team 7 nodded slowly. "It's troublesome, but it looks like they're still able to stand. I'll try to capture them with my Kagemane no Jutsu. You use your magic to at least restrain them. There's no need to kill them."

The Hyoton-user nodded and prepared herself for the upcoming fight, thought she doubted it would be much of one. However, before anyone could start the battle off, they all sensed something dark from within the hollow. As Haku and Shikamaru turned to look, they noticed Sasuke was gone. When they heard Dosu's screams, both quickly spun around and saw Sasuke had his hand through the boy's chest, laughing maniacally as he ended the mummy-boy's life.

As soon as he turned his gaze to the Oto kunoichi, the Uchiha pulled a small orb-like object from his pocket and clutched it tight, trying to will the thing to give him some kind of power. Blinking when it didn't work, Sasuke held it up and examined it closely. "That lying bastard! He promised this would grant me even more power, but it's just a piece of junk!"

Haku immediately recognized what it was. The object that Sasuke was now holding was a Dragoon Spirit! It wasn't shining for Sasuke, meaning it hadn't recognized him as its rightful wielder, but she could practically _hear_ it crying out for somebody to free it. Her eyes widened instantly when it looked as if Sasuke was about to throw the Spirit down on the ground, clearly ready to smash the thing to pieces.

Before Haku could even take a step, a mop of blonde hair could be seen in her peripheral vision. Naruto had awakened and moved with such great speed to stop his teammate from shattering the Dragoon Spirit. The moment before it could hit the ground, the Jade Dragoon snatched it out of the air and clutched it tight to his chest. "Finally. I finally have it back!"

Sasuke looked absolutely furious at this point and went to slug Naruto. The blonde raised his lance and blocked his teammate's attack before turning such a glare on him that it sent chills down everyone's backs. "Where did you get this _Sasuke_?"

The Uchiha snarled and attempted to snatch the Dragoon Spirit back, only for Naruto to pivot out of his way and slam Sasuke into the ground. Growling angrily, Sasuke looked up into his teammate's eyes so hatefully it shocked the other members of Team 7. "Give that back to me dobe, that's mine!"

Naruto began chuckling darkly at this and shook his head. "Yours? This was stolen from Rose and me four years ago! It was never meant for you to hold teme! Now answer me! Where did you get this?!"

Sasuke rose to his feet and attempted to slug Naruto again, only to be slammed to the ground by his teammate's weapon. "Fuck you Naruto! It was given to me. Therefore, it's rightfully _mine_! It may be a worthless piece of shit, but it's still too good for the likes of _you_ to hold dobe!"

As the two argued, Haku, Shikamaru, and Kin noticed dark markings beginning to spread up their necks and along their faces. There was such a dark energy being emitted from the both of them that it was beginning to suffocate those in the immediate area. At this point, Shikamaru approached Kin slowly and held out his hand. "You have a chance to flee Kin. Hand over your team's scroll and run. I don't think you want to stick around for whatever's about to happen."

Kin quickly nodded and snuck over to Dosu's body where she then retrieved her team's scroll. Thankfully, Naruto and Sasuke were still arguing over the orb or whatever the hell it was, so she managed to get back to Shikamaru unharmed. "Here it is. I'm not sure if it's one you need or not, but take it. I'm getting out of here. Thank you!" Seeing Shikamaru nod, the kunoichi quickly turned and fled into the forest, away from the members of Team 7.

When Sasuke looked about ready to continue yelling at Naruto, the blonde smirked and shook his head. "You don't even know what this is _teme_. This is the Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit. It belongs with Rose-chan. And _you_ tried to destroy it! Even if you wouldn't have succeeded, the mere act _alone_ is enough of a crime against Rose-chan that you need to be taught a fucking lesson!"

Sasuke Uchiha scoffed and began flashing through hand seals, clearly infuriated to the point he wanted to _kill_ his teammate by this point. However, he soon let out an ear-piercing scream as Naruto stabbed him through the chest with his lance. As the markings receded back into the curse seal on Sasuke, the blonde leaned closer. "Guess what teme; I'm going to kill you. Tell me, would you like to die quickly, or slow and _painfully_?" The look in Sasuke's eyes said it all at this point: he was afraid. He knew he was going to die…

**A/N: Okay, first I'd like to apologize if this chapter isn't that great. I've been feeling pretty crappy for a few days now, and earlier this morning I finally just got so damn sick. Started puking and...yeah, let's just say I was VERY sick. As a result of all of this, trying to work on this chapter was really hard, _especially_ today. Still, I did the best I could given the circumstances.**

**Now that that's out of the way, I'll address a few things. It may seem like Rose is trying to tell Naruto that he can either do well or he won't have a chance with her. I guarantee that that is _not_ the case. It should've been obvious that she _does_ have feelings for him. I'm sure the both of them understand that. Clearly Haku did. *shrugs***

**Then there's the Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit and how it ended up in Sasuke's hands. I promise that will be explained in one of the upcoming chapters. What's important is that it's finally made its reappearance, and Sasuke's in deep shit because of it.**

**You might also be wondering about who the two new Dragoons are. Again, you will find out in the coming chapters. I'm not going to spoil anything.**

**Crap. I'm sure I had more to address, but I feel just terrible right now. I've been sleeping off and on throughout the day and I'm STILL feeling incredibly sick right now. Still, I did the best I could. I do hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


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